XC2Adolescent Thunder
by Shadow Master
Summary: BtVSMC2SpiderGirlThorIt's Halloween on the Hellmouth and a lot of strange people are walking around. Unfortunately some are so rowdy that they are being asked to leave the reality and guess who's been picked: Xander Harris!
1. Chapter 1

"_XC2 – Adolescent Thunder" _

_BtVS/MC2 Universe/Spider-Girl/Sort of Thor/YAHF_

_Note: For those of you who don't know the MC2 universe was a spin off of a story featured in the Marvel Comics title called What if…? It was a comic that, like the title implies, explored how things might have gone had events in the mainstream titles had things been a little different. The MC2 was formed based on 'What if…?" issue 105 which explored what would have happened if little May Parker hadn't been kidnapped but instead had remained with Peter and Mary Jane. The issue was so popular that Marvel spawned a series of spin offs based on the characters featured therein that came to be the MC2 universe of Marvel comics. In it were titles such as A-Next featuring the next generation of Avengers and J2 the son of the unstoppable Juggernaut. As for the Thor part… well… I am a big fan of the works of an author by the name of anotherlostsoul at Twisting the Hellmouth so I decided to add the thunder god to the mix. Don't worry this will be sufficiently original so that no one will be able to call this a rip off of his/her work._

_Well whatever happens I hope you enjoy this story. Thanks a bunch for reading and reviewing it!_

_PS – I KNOW I said that I wouldn't start any new fanfics until at least half of the others currently in progress were finished but this plot bunny was about to rip off BOTH my arms, shove one up my butt and the other down my throat so I could twiddle my thumbs in my stomach. In short I was given no choice in the matter really. I am sure many fanfic authors have had similar experiences. In any case I promise in the future to pack the heavy artillery where ever I go so I can fight off any other aggressive plot bunnies like this one._

_**Sunnydale High School, Afternoon, The Day Of Halloween**_

_I can't believe she **did** that!_ Xander thought with a growl as he stormed down the halls of the high school.

His mind was a tempest of emotions and feelings that could all be traced back to one single event that had happened mere minutes ago. It had been back in the student lounge that he, Willow and Buffy had been discussing their recent conscription into the ranks of chaperons that had been drafted to escort some eight year olds Halloween night. She had let out the fact that contrary to what one would think, the night of trick or treating was a complete snooze-fest as far as the demonic were concerned. Taking a brief break from the discussion he'd gone to get a soda only to have the misfortune of bumping into Larry the Linebacker. If that hadn't been bad enough the idiot had decided he'd be the perfect person to ask if Buffy would consider going out with him. With words as his only weapon, he'd naturally said that the football player didn't have a chance in hell, which had led to a confrontation that even if he lost could have meant beaucoup macho points just for standing up to the bully. THAT had been when Buffy had decided to do her 'good deed' and step in to help as well as humiliate the jock in front of everyone. Which of course wound up having the exact **opposite** effect on his reputation that he'd wanted in the first place.

_It'll take me every single **minute** up until graduation in two years to make up for this and **THAT'S** if I just want my rep back where it used to be thirty minutes ago!_ He thought as he passed by the doors of the 'Geek Club' as everyone called it.

Basically it was a room that the completely unpopular had acquired from Snyder because they were considered the eggheads of the school and that meant in the Principal's mind they were the only students of any worth aside from the star athletes. However to everyone else they were just the Anime/comic book/videogame/movie/D&D freaks of the school that no one would willing associate with unless they literally had nowhere else to go or someone else to hang out with. Among the more notable members were Andrew Wells, Jonathan Levinson and Warren Mears as well as a few other people who fell under the category of outcast among the high school crowd.

While not exactly a member of the 'in crowd' himself, his feelings towards the club was pretty much the same as everyone else's in the school. He liked a good anime and had a comic book collection at home that was pretty impressive but even he didn't take his love of those mediums as much as the members of this club did. A couple weeks ago he actually overheard them re-enacting an old issue of Thor with Jonathan as Loki and Andrew as Thor. Just the thought of imagining those two as the sons of Odin was almost enough to get a chuckle out of him.

"Hey Xander! Could you come in here and give us a hand?" Came the voice of one Andrew Wells from the door to the Geek Club (shouldn't it be glee club?).

For a moment the Xan-man debated the merits of doing a fellow classmate a favor since it would require him to be seen entering the Club room or just ignoring Wells and keep going. In the end though he figured that his rep couldn't really sink any lower considering what had happened in the student lounge so doing the good deed won out in his mind.

"Sure Andrew! What's up?"Hhe asked trying to sound friendly and casual.

"Me and the guys just need an extra pair of hands to move Warren's trunk of Power Rangers tapes and other junk." Andrew replied as he closed the door behind them.

"They're **NOT** junk! They're priceless collectables that'll make me rich in ten years while the rest of you guys are just flipping burgers!" Warren snapped as he and Jonathan took up their positions on one side of the trunk.

"Hey, chill dude, I'm just here to help you guys out." He said as he stood beside Andrew and chose where he'd try and get a grip on the trunk.

"Yeah… well… let's just do this alright!" Warren said, feeling a little bad that he had snapped at someone who was helping them out.

Once all four of them had a grip on the trunk and confirmed with each other that their grips were solid, Jonathan counted to three and on the number three they all lifted the box as one off the ground. When he actually felt the weight of it he almost dropped it in surprise but since that had the potential to be painful he clamped down on his emotions and maintained his grip.

"What exactly is in this thing?" He asked unable to keep his curiosity about the weight at bay like his emotions, "I didn't think plastic weighed this much."

"It's not just action figures and video tapes. Warren managed to get a hold of a guy in Japan that was on the team to make the props and costumes for the show." Andrew replied as the quartet inched their way to where the trunk was supposed to go, "The guy was willing to sell some of the original molds for the helmets as well as some of the props. So naturally Warren jumped at the chance to get them."

"Of course I did! Do you know how much stuff like that goes for on the auction block?" Warren asked attempting to defend his purchase, "I heard some guy had some of the original props for the Godzilla movies and managed to sell them for five million dollars to some psycho collector."

"Five million?! Yeah right! Most you could probably get for this stuff is five hundred grand! Tops!" Jonathan said with a sneer from his place next to Warren.

"Alright! That's it!" Warren said as he let go of his part of the trunk to aggressively poke Jonathan in the shoulder, "What is your problem?"

"Nothing!" Jonathan said not wanting to get into a pointless argument with his sort of friend, "Let's just get this over with."

It was then, when two members of the group that once upon a time might have formed a group called the Troika, set off a chain of events that would change the world as they knew it. It started with a seemingly trivial escalation of hostilities on the part of Warren who instead of returning his hands to their former positions on the trunk. Destabilizing the object, he caused it to rock slightly since one corner no longer had anyone carrying that part of the overall weight. Normally this would merely require the remaining three people to adjust their grips a little in order to compensate for the increase in weight. Unfortunately this was rendered impossible when both Andrew and Jonathan abandoned their duties at the same time, albeit for entirely different reasons. For Andrew it was so that he could intervene in the growing conflict between the two people he considered his closest friends. For Jonathan it was simply an act of frustration, one born of Warren's constant need to be superior to him and Andrew, one that caused him to feel the need to retaliate. Unfortunately this caused Xander to become the sudden bearer of all of the trunks weight and, despite the muscle he is slowly getting helping Buffy, his strength is insufficient causing it to slip from his grasp right onto his right foot.

"Argh!! DAMNIT!" He cursed as he quickly freed his injured feet immediately going to one knee to massage the pained appendage in an effort to alleviate the pain.

This of course took the future Troika by surprise and postponed their quarrel as a new problem took priority.

"Uh oh! You guys know what this could mean?" Andrew asked distinctly worried.

"Yeah! Snyder's going to shut our fan club down that's what." Jonathan replied promptly with equal worry, "You know how pissed he was when that suit of Dr. Doom armor fell on him the last time he was here. He said if anything else like that happened again, no matter who got hurt, he'd shut us down immediately."

"Not if no one finds out about it." Warren said as his calculating mind went to work, "Xander I know you're probably pretty angry right now but I'm sure we can cut some kind of deal. What will it take to keep you from going to Snyder with this?"

He took a minute to consider the geek's proposal as well as how he truly thought about the matter. While it was true that he wasn't feeling all that happy at the moment, he wouldn't classify his mood as 'get-these-guys-in-trouble-with-Snyder' mad. He was mad enough to start yelling at these guys for forgetting about him and letting the trunk drop on his foot, but not enough to cause too big a stink over it. Still, as a small light bulb jumped into his mind, he realized that this could be an opportunity to salvage his manly reputation at least with these guys. After all only a tough guy would take them up on this offer and perhaps claim their most prized possession as payment for keeping quiet. Looking about the room he tried to measure just how valuable each item was and which one would serve as an appropriate payment for keeping his grievances to himself. A few things caught his eye like a prop blaster that looked exactly like the ones used by Stormtroopers in Star Wars as well as something that looked like Trunks' sword from DBZ. Obviously these guys were either great craftsmen or they focused their entire savings on buying replicas of their favorite TV/Movie/Anime/Videogames.

_Not interested in a blaster because, quite frankly, they're a dime a dozen. The sword looks nice but I could get a real one from Giles so no good asking for that either._ He thought as his roving eyes continued to peruse the contents of the room, _So what will I tak—HELLO!_

The moment he laid eyes on it he knew that he had found what he was looking for and that he would definitely go to the wall to have it. Standing up he quickly walked over to it in order to examine it more thoroughly just to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. The leather strips around the handle as well as the loop at the end looked like it had been artificially aged and weather to look like it had been through almost constant use. At the same time though the leather looked like it could last easily another century before needing to be repaired or replaced. Checking the square shaped lump of metal at the end opposite the loop he was surprised to find that it wasn't made out of a material the **looked** like metal but was actually **real** true blue metal. He picked up his selection and confirmed that the metal at the end was indeed real because he couldn't think of anything else that could weigh so much. It was then that he took a closer look at the inscription on the metal block and found that it was definitely too high quality for the geeks to have done it but just the same it was amazingly well done. He could make out the words easily and it matched exactly what he'd seen in the comic books. Something this detailed and well constructed definitely had to rank among their top five most prized possessions and would most certainly teach them a lesson if it was taken from them.

"Fine. Let me have this and I'll keep my mouth shut." He said turning around and showing the three geeks what his selection was.

"No! Please anything--!" Andrew tried to say but was immediately silenced with an elbow to the gut by Warren.

"Deal!" Warren said with a smile that definitely implied that he thought he had come out ahead in the deal.

"Well then see you guys later!" he said as he strode to the door carrying his newfound possession, "I'd stay and help you with the trunk but I think you have some issues to talk out first."

Without further word he walked out the door to his locker where he'd store the new item until after school let out. It was then that he remembered that he'd been conscripted into chaperoning a bunch of kids around and immediately began to wonder if he could use his newest acquisition to his advantage. He knew he wouldn't be able to afford the entire costume that would have to go along with this prop but if he remembered correctly there were some things back home that might be a substitute for them.

_Yep! And if I'm missing anything I can just pick it up at the new costume shop later with the gang._ He thought before remembering that he should still be mad at Buffy, _I'll grant her a chance to say 'I'm sorry' at the shop. After all I'm sure she didn't mean to embarrass me in front of the entire school._

With that he continued on his walk to his locker convinced that today might actually turn out to be a good day after all.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**The Harris Home, After the Trip to Ethan's Costume Shop, **_

_**One Hour Before Chaperon Duty**_

_Alright! Time to see if I have everything I need to pull off my costume._ He thought as he looked at the various pieces laid out on his bed.

While his hope for a heartfelt apology from Buffy had been ruined by her drooling over some frilly dress meant for Deadboy he had found the missing items for his costume. He'd found the right 'City of New York' patches for his jacket as well as the E.M.T letters for the back of the jacket at home. Once those were attached, either with tape or glue, the rest could be put together with a dress shirt and jeans from his own closet. While the person he was going out as wasn't all that popular when compared to the person he turned into it was still a good costume idea. Plus, if worse came to worse and no one had a clue who he was dressing up as even after he told them the character's name, he'd just claim to be Richard Kimble in disguise or some other famous fictional fellow. As for his bribe from the geek trio, he'd just tuck that behind his back underneath his jacket and only pull it out if he thought someone might make the connection between the prop and the outfit. It was a little uncomfortable, given how the metal slab was digging into his back, but he really didn't have anywhere's more covert to put it unless he planned on slapping together a fake med-case and sticking it in there.

_Nah! No sense carrying around something like that if I don't have to. _He thought as he trotted out the door so he could meet up with Buffy and Willow.

He got about as far as the front door before a familiar bellow and stream of cursing reached his ears letting him know that Anthony Harris was awake and, as usual, had decided to let the entire town know it in the most vulgar way he knew. Deciding that it was **definitely** time to leave he beat some serious feet out the door and down the street before Tony could catch sight of him. He knew all too well what would happen if Tony saw him and he had no wish to endure a pointless session of the elder Harris blaming all his misfortunes on others. It was times like this that he really did wish he had a life more like Buffy or Willow's in that they had loving parents that actually cared about them. Instead he was forced to endure two parents who cared more about drinking themselves into a stupor and spending their next welfare checks than raising him. It truly made him wish that they weren't his parents but there was no changing biology, and even if he knew that magic did open up some possibilities, he was helpless to take advantage of them.

Walking along he soon found himself standing in front of the door to Buffy's place, where she and his best bud Willow were getting into their costumes. Knocking with an all too familiar pattern, he waited for no more than a few minutes before the door opened to reveal a vision of purple, white and black that rendered him speechless. Standing in front of him was none other than Evil-Lyn, mistress of magic, loyal second in command to the mighty Lord of Evil Skeletor. Around Sunnydale, though, she was more commonly known as Dawn Summers, younger sister to Buffy Summers, and someone who he considered a younger sister. However given the ways she was filling out the costume and the amount of leg she was showing, it was clear that she wanted to be considered older than she actually was and by him specifically. He had been aware a long time of Dawn-patrol's crush on him but knew that that was all it was in the end, a crush, and would fade soon enough once she found someone else to direct her affections towards. For now though she was deliberately trying to show off how much leg was showing as well as adopting a few 'innocent' poses that looked like they belonged someplace distinctly more adult.

"Um…Hiya! So… howzit going Dawn?" He asked as he tried to keep himself from falling for her tactics.

"Good! I just finished getting dressed and was about to hook up with Kit and the others to go trick or treating." Dawn replied all the while giving him the 'sexy eyes' look, "We figure we'll keep at it until we get about three bags full each and then come back here to watch the Nightmare on Elm Street series. How about you?"

_Just keep thinking of her as a little sister! Keep thinking that and everything will be fine!_ He thought to himself as he tried to find someplace other than Dawn to look before answering, "Pretty much the same except I have to chaperon some five year olds for two hours and then me and the gang'll probably swing around to The Bronze before heading back here for whatever leftover candy your mom has left."

"Well I'll make sure to have something **sweet** for you when you get back." Dawn said making it clear that she meant something other than candy.

"Dawn, dear, could you go into the kitchen and check to see if I left any cases of pop in the cupboard?" Mrs. S asked as she walked into sight, wearing the 1983 version of The Sorceress' outfit from He-man and the Masters of the Universe.

"But mom--!" Dawn tried to say in protest before being cutoff with a look from her mother.

With a groan of defeat the youngest Summers woman stomped towards the kitchen to do her mother's bidding making it clear with every step that she did not appreciate having her seduction routine cut short.

_I, on the other hand, will be forever in Mrs. Summers' debt for this!_ He thought before asking, "Nice outfit Mrs. S! You and Dawn-patrol planning on going out as a match set or something?"

"Well I didn't go to the shop with the idea of buying a costume that went with Dawn's but when I saw the price, well, that pretty much sealed the deal." Joyce replied with a smile that all women get when they manage to score a great deal on clothes of any kind, "So who are you supposed to be?"

"Well the guy I'm dressed up as isn't exactly well known but his name is Jake Olson and he's kind of the civilian identity of the mighty Thor from Marvel Comics." Xander replied as he took out the replica Mjolnir from behind his back to show Mrs. S, "I didn't exactly have a lot of money to spend on a costume so I took some odds and ends and came up with this."

"While I admit I don't know who this Jake Olson is it was very innovative to put together a costume like this." Joyce said with praise at Xander's resourcefulness.

"Thanks, Mrs. Summers." Xander said before hearing footsteps at the top of the stairs and looked up.

"Buffy! Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!" He exclaimed as he took in the hidden princess that was the blonde vampire Slayer as she came down the stairs.

"Thank you, kind sir. But wait till you see..." Buffy said with a smile before turning and directing his gaze back to the top of the stairs.

Looking in the right direction he wondered what it was that had Buffy so excited considering it was probably just going to be Willow in her traditional ghost costume. After all unlike the vampire Slayer he had known the redhead since pre-school and thus knew that there was only ever one costume for the genius of Sunnydale High School. Looking up he sighed a bit with disappointment when he realized that destiny had come again and his bestest bud was once again choosing to hide rather than take a chance. Seeing this he had a pretty good idea of what Buffy had been trying to do, namely get Willow to wear something daring, and almost shook his head at the failure. He himself had made many attempts to bring her out of her shell and walk with her head held high but to no avail. It has only been since Buffy came to town that he's noticed any real growth beyond the mousy Willow that did her best to be overlooked or ignored by those who would harm her whether it was physically or emotionally. However the blonde Slayer was trying to move too quickly, trying to turn Willow into someone more like herself, and needed to slow things down a bit.

"Hey, Will! That's aaah fine boo you got there." He said trying to dispel any guilt or non-happy feelings that Buffy's disappointed look was encouraging in Willow.

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Later That Night, After Ethan Rayne Cast his Spell of Chaos 

"Where am I?" Asked Jake Olson as he surveyed the chaos around him being made by both humans and demons.

Looking about he took things in with the air of someone who had seen such things before and had no doubts that he would see them again. Most would be confused since to their eyes he would appear to be no more than a mortal man in his early to mid-twenties wearing the garb commonly used by E.M.Ts in the city of New York. However for those with the ability to look beneath the surface they would see something quite different indeed. They would see not the soul of a man but the spirit of a God, Thor Odinson, merged with a mortal shell by his father Odin as atonement for a death he allowed to occur. For it had been during a battle with his comrades the Avengers against the engine of destruction known as the Destroyer that he unknowingly allowed the mortal Jake Olson to perish. So set he had been on defeating his enemy that he had failed to take into account the risk to others and so he willingly submitted to the All Father's decree. Thus it has been for the last several weeks that when no crisis or great threat calls for the involvement of the God of Thunder he lives the life Jake Olson would have had he lived.

Looking deep within his mind, he tried to recall his last clear memory before arriving in this strange town. It was not long after he and mighty Odin had defeated the brothers of the Enchanter Forsung and learned of the sad fate of one dear to him named Ceranda. He had returned to Midgard to resume the life of Jake Olson only to find the life of the mortal he posed as in complete disarray. While he had been aware of the false charges of stealing and selling drugs on the street, he had been shocked to find that somehow a false Jake Olson had attempted to murder the police detective heading the investigation against him. The last clear memory he had was of using mighty Mjolnir to transport him to Asgard where he hoped to find answers the mystery that sought to destroy the life he had been decreed to live. He knew for a fact that he had been in mid-transit between worlds but after that his memory became a well of emptiness until he found himself here in this town of chaos.

_While I know not what hath drawn me here to this town, it is clear that some evil plagues it this night and threatens those mortals who live here._ Thor thought as he looked about and found the isolated spot he had been looking for, _Mayhap some sorcerer summoned me here in order to vanquish the evil I see before me. If that be the case then Thor shall do so if only to be allowed to be free to return to dealing with his own problems._

Quickly making his way to a spot isolated and hidden from the chaos that infested the small town he made one final check of his surroundings, to be sure that none were watching him, before slamming his right fist into the ground. With an explosion of white light and a crackle of electricity the mortal form of the medic Jake Olson is no more and in his place kneels the form of Thor, God of Thunder, son of almighty Odin. Rising up the prince of Asgard whirled his mighty hammer about then with one final swing threw it into the air clutching the strap at the bottom of the handle. Like a superhero of fiction, he took to the air and flew over the town so as to get a better measure of the problem before him. From what he could see the spell cast upon the town was great indeed for demons and minions of evil of all sizes were hobbling about, causing chaos and violence in their wake. Wishing to bring the chaos to a swift end he stretched out, both with his own senses and with the powers of his Uru hammer, trying to find the common thread that would take him to the source of the force that disrupted the peace of this small town. Alas, much to his surprise, the entire town seemed submerged in a sea of evil energy that radiated outwards from what appeared to be a school of some kind. Amidst this sea of demonic energy finding the source of the chaos would be difficult indeed for it would be like looking for single golden ring amongst a treasury of unsurpassed size.

_This may take a while._ He thought as he began his thorough search of the town for the source of the chaos that he had been summoned to stop.

Hours ticked away as with every breath he took he scoured the city and listened to his godly senses for any indication that he had found his foe. Occasionally he would stop and put an end to a conflict between a citizen of the town and some foul creature but for the most part his undivided attention was on finding the mastermind behind this chaos. Twas not until an explosion of great strength sent a building crashing to the ground that he felt he had something just as important to occupy his attention appear. Changing the direction of his flight, he veered towards the source of the explosion and upon arriving found a sight that he was all too familiar with. Battling in the middle of the streets were two sorceresses, one clad in purple garb while the other dressed with a distinctly avian theme, with the latter apparently doing her best not harm the former too severely. Both wielded powerful magic and behaved in a matter that made it quite clear they were accustomed to battles involving sorcery. For the surrounding shops, though, as well as those civilians who dwelled inside, the purple clad sorceress did not seem overly concerned with where her attacks landed so long as most of them struck her foe.

_Hath the maiden no honor! Whatever her quarrel with her avian foe might be, these innocents hath done nothing to warrant feeling her anger! _He thought as he began his descent intent on stopping the fight anon or at least persuading the participants to take their battle elsewhere so as not to harm any noncombatants.

Calling down a bolt of lightning between the two in order to get their attention, he landed in the center of their line of fire with a look in his eyes that said 'you **WILL** listen to me'.

"Cease thy fighting, both of you. Do ye not see the damage thy both have wrought on the businesses and dwellings around you?" He said firmly while giving both women a firm glare to halt any attempts at interruption, "I know not what bitter feud exists between thee but I say to you now: take it elsewhere! So long as Thor, son of Odin, be here you shall **not** endanger these innocent people further!"

"Great! Another muscle bound buffoon who thinks he can get in my way." Spoke the one in purple, her tone showing little respect towards him, "Is it mere chance Sorceress or do you simply prefer brainless muscle men to be your protectors?"

"Though I know not this Thor, Evil-Lyn, he speaks sense. I know you will not break off this confrontation but I must ask that we take it elsewhere." The Sorceress requested dropping her arms to her sides to indicate she did not intend to continue fighting at this moment, "We will continue our fight but in a place where no innocents will be put at risk. Is this agreeable to you?"

"Hmmmmm, well, I guess… **NOT!**" Evil-Lyn replied sounding almost like she might accept the proposal before lashing out with a blast from her scepter, "Fools! Did you honestly believe that I'd cease my attacks now that you've just provided me with the perfect means of defeating you!?"

"Foul wench! Thou wouldst willingly risk killing those who have done you no wrong just for the opportunity to slay the two of us?!" Thor yelled as he used mighty Mjolnir to absorb what he could of the magical blast while deflecting the rest where it would do no harm, "Thou dost disgust me! Have at thee!"

With a powerful thrust the prince of Asgard let loose all the energy that Mjolnir had absorbed right back at the ground beneath Evil-Lyn's feet, forcing the witch to dive to safety. As though hit by a meteor the ground where the evil sorceress once stood collapsed downwards revealing the now-compromised sewer system of the town. Charging forward the god of thunder sought to end the battle quickly, knowing that since the likelihood of changing the battle's venue was now slim the longer the battle went, the more likely innocent people would be harmed. However the wench quickly became aware of his approach and was quick to prepare an appropriate reception.

"**_Streets of stone, hard and rough, form a barrier that is quite tough!_**" She chanted and after a brief flash of light from her scepter the street began to change shape in front of her to form a wall.

"Craven villain! Thou shalt need more than a stone wall to keep the son of Odin at bay!" He yelled before bringing back his mighty hammer and sending it crashing through Evil-Lyn's defense.

As the dust cleared and the location of his enemy became known once more, he could tell that his destruction of her wall had taken some of the wind out of her as she appeared to be breathing rather hard. However the moment he noticed this, she seemed to realize that she was looking weak and quickly made an effort to show him that her weakness was only momentary. Her eyes began to glow brightly with eldritch energy and with a violent thrust of her scepter she sent a wave of energy at him that tore a trench in the street as it passed over it. Knowing that if he allowed it to progress past him it might demolish one of the damaged buildings or maybe even set off an explosion if it touched a cracked pipe in the sewers, he swung mighty Mjolnir around behind him and, when enough momentum had been gained, threw the Uru hammer at the wave to dispel it. With the force of two objects of great power colliding both the energy wave and the weapon of Thor collided with a thunderous boom. For three seconds neither force seemed to gain an advantage but in the end the true strength of his hammer won out, shattering the wave into pieces no more dangerous than the rays of the sun. Holding out his hand, he caught Mjolnir upon its return and looked to see if this display of the power of the Odinson would be enough to persuade Evil-Lyn to surrender.

"Hath thee had enough dark witch? Or dost thou wish the battle to resume anon?" He asked as he kept his mighty Uru hammer ready in case the dark clad sorceress chose to continue her efforts to defeat him.

"Oh I don't presume to continue this fight **fool!** I intend to **END IT!**" Evil-Lyn replied as she threw her arms upwards and began gathering a massive amount of energy around her.

The air did pulse and wind did howl as the dark sorceress continued to gather more and more energy to her aide. So much so that even the ground around her began to crack and splinter under the pressure of so much destructive stresses forced on it. Though it was not enough to make Thor Odinson rethink his desire to defeat the evil maiden he did concede that he might not be able to protect the civilians still in the area. Turning to the avian Sorceress who had been focusing on using her magic to defend rather than attack he knew what had to be done.

"Sorceress! It dost seem that this battle be destined to get worse long before it shall get better." He said with great urgency looking directly at the matronly woman, "Seek out and flee with what innocents you can find. I shall attempt to keep Evil-Lyn's magic at bay until ye are all safely away!"

"I shall try to hurry!" Replied The Sorceress before she ran into the closest building to begin looking for civilians that had not fled when the battle had originally began.

Nodding once in satisfaction that the safety of the innocent was being seen to he looked back to see just how big the threat of Evil-Lyn had become during the moment he had looked away. His eyes widened in shock as he found that the gathered might surrounding the woman had grown so large that it had become nearly twice the width of the street demolishing buildings on all sides of the evil sorceress. He had not thought her capable of such a feat but could sense no deception in what his eyes were conveying to him at that moment. Somehow the dark amazon of magic had called forth power to rival even the Enchantress Amora and looked ready to unleash it all upon him. Such a blast would devastate this entire area and likely slay any who had been foolish enough to linger and whom the Sorceress was unable to save. He had but one choice if he was to save the lives of the innocents and put an end to the threat that this woman posed to the people of Midgard.

"I know not why you are so obsessed with destroying me Evil-Lyn but I shalt not permit thee to harm the people of Midgard!" He declared as he began to swing Mjolnir around above his head, "Come oh enchanted energy! Heed the call of mine Uru hammer and abandon thy foul mistress' summons!"

As though the eldritch energy Evil-Lyn was gathering had a mind of its own, tendrils began to stretch out from the sphere of magic around her and form a funnel of power the exact radius of his mighty hammer. As the seconds passed, more and more tendrils of energy began to form connecting the vortex created by Mjolnir to the sphere of arcane energy the dark sorceress had created. It was plain, even to one who knew nothing of magic, that the field of energy was steadily growing weaker despite the effort that Evil-Lyn seemed to be putting forth to keep the magic under her control. Victory, it seemed, was at hand for the son of Odin and defender of the realm of Midgard for if he could thwart an effort of this magnitude nothing the evil woman could produce would have any effect.

If that was so then why was the dark sorceress starting to laugh?

"FOOL! You've done **exactly** what I had hoped you would!" Evil'Lyn crowed as a positively evil smile blossomed on her face, "Thanks for saving me the trouble of trying to pin you down!"

"While I might not be your equal in raw power it's clear that you're about as intelligent as any other muscle-bound man!" she said before her eyes glowed even brighter than before, "**_Powerful warrior leave me alone, go back to where you belong to - thine own HOME!_**"

Almost as though the weight of the world was suddenly dropped on it the funnel of energy that had once been under Mjolnir's control crashed to the ground surrounding him completely. So shocked was he that it took four precious seconds before he attempted to dispel the cylinder of energy that threatened to imprison him. However due to a mix of his own efforts moments ago to bring the energy to him and Evil-Lyn's own skill with sorcery he was unable to do more than momentarily disrupt the tube of light. All the while he could hear the cackling of the dark magic user who no doubt was basking in her perceived triumph.

However, as the mind of Xander LaVelle Harris could have told her, it was moments like these that things usually went bad for most big bads. Sadly, he was only able to watch as the second in command of Skeletor's forces, also known as Dawn Summers, assumed the position of the victor before the fat lady had officially sung.

To illustrate this point random chance and the old Harris bad luck decided to step in and engineer a sequence of events that would be remembered by both higher and lower beings for years to come. At the precise moment the spell cast by Evil-Lyn/Dawn Summers began to take effect by beginning the teleportation process, the stone bust of the Roman God Janus shattered into a million pieces, breaking the spell that Ethan had cast. It was those two conflicting forces being at odds with one another that caused the being that was both Xander LaVelle Harris and Thor Odinson to be pulled at from two directions. From the shattered chaos spell of Ethan Rayne came the need to transform the founding male member of the Scooby gang back into your average teenage guy. However the magic that had been infused into Alexander had been great indeed in order for him to properly become the Prince of Asgard. It would have been difficult on its own to remove and likely would have had the after effect of increasing his strength and durability even after the Janus spell was gone. However with the combination of the magical energy of Evil-Lyn's spell and Thor/Xander's efforts to resist any magic set against him the amount of energy within him that had come from Janus left him only a grain of sand at a time. On the other end was the spell of Evil-Lyn attempting to cast the Thunder God/Xan-man across space time and, unknown to all, dimensions using the combined power of Evil-Lyn, the harnessed energies of the Hellmouth and the legendary energy of The Key itself which lay within the form of Dawn Summers/Evil-Lyn. The energy of the Key worked to obey its goal of sending the warrior prince before it back to the world where he belonged and, so powerful was it, that it even forced the powers of knowledge of Evil-Lyn to remain until the task was completed.

So it was that three forces acted on the body of the Sunnydale High School student with one attempting to return him to who he had once been, one struggling ferociously to remain who he had become and another determined to send him where it believed he belonged. The three forces warred with one another, building up pressure as they redoubled their efforts again and again, until with the force of a couple of tons of TNT going off the column of energy surrounding the Thunder God exploded. The shockwave that was sent out demolished what buildings were still standing for a radius of five blocks and knocked the young woman formerly known as Evil-Lyn back a full hundred yards before stopping. When she finally managed to sit up though it was obvious the evil sorceress and lieutenant of Skeletor no longer resided within her but rather that Dawn Summers was back in control of her own body once more. Her costume had reverted back to the poor copy of the original it had started out and what magic there had been inside of her courtesy of Evil-Lyn had been reduced to a quarter of its former strength. Worst of all though she was now chained to the memory that she could very well have just destroyed the one man she had chosen to marry once she was old enough. Ripping off the headdress of Evil-Lyn she threw it away in both hatred and disgust of the foul villainess for what she had done to Xander.

_DAMN THAT BITCH!_ She thought furiously as tears began to trickle down her cheeks, _All I wanted was for Xander to notice I was a beautiful woman too and now he's… he's…._

It was only after she shook her head to shake loose the tears that to her were a sign of weakness that her long hair, now snow white, fell into view. Shock filled her mind as she grasped the hair with her hands to confirm that it was indeed hers and that she was not imagining things. It was then that she noticed several other changes that had not been present before Halloween night and provided more evidence that things had changed. For one thing her body was no longer that of a young 'just-became-a-teenager' woman but rather that of someone in their early twenties instead. Not only that, but a beautiful twenty-something young woman as well with toned legs and a chest that was **at least** a C-cup. It was then, when she was searching herself for any other changes, that an old technique/instinct from the remnants of Evil-Lyn alerted her to the most important change of them all.

There was still magic within her.

Not a great deal and nowhere near the level it had been when Evil-Lyn had been in control of her body but it was still more than she had possessed before. With this thought hope blossomed in her heart, hope that she could go looking for Xander and bring him home, that alone was more than enough to wipe away the sorrow that had for a time taken up residence in her heart.

_I **WILL** find you Xander!_ She thought as she got to her feet with purple scepter in hand, _As soon as I learn enough and get strong enough to open a portal I'll come after you and bring you home! I **promise!**_

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

In an Unknown Place, At an Unknown Time 

"It would seem you are left with a problem brother." Spoke a female voice as beautiful as it was wise, "The One Who Sees has been cast out from his native dimension and now flounders unconscious in limbo, caught between worlds. Normally it would simply be arranged for him to be returned to his place in the order of things but that cannot be done now, can it."

"Nay, my sister. For through a freak chance of fate the mortal Alexander Harris has had the powers of his costumed character locked within him." The Brother said as he looked down with all seeing eyes on the mortal he and his sister were talking about, "While not as strong as the god he disguised himself as, he doth indeed hold the potential to become so should the will of the Fates and random chance allow it. Still, the question of what to do with him remains."

"Mayhap we should send him to the world of our younger sister. Her world is now abundant with the offspring of heroes past and would be a fair place to send young Harris." The Sister replied as a thoughtful look on her face, "From what I have seen in young Alexander's mind, he would consider it a boon indeed to spend time amongst the heroes of his fantasies."

"It would also give him the necessary means to master his newfound abilities. Very Well! As thou hast proposed so shall it be!" The Brother said and with a wave of his ascended hand he sent the young warrior off to his chosen destination, "May ye become verily the epitome of your name Defender of Mankind and when thou is read you will find a way to return to your loved ones. Fare thee well!"

So with this deliberation Alexander 'Xander' Harris flew through the myriad of paths and airways of limbo before finally passing through the gateway that would transport him to where one brother and one sister thought it best for him to reside for now.

What fate awaited him?

What adventures would he experience?

None, not even those who sent him there, knew for certain for as the young mortal had proven the night Buffy Summers died Xander Harris was a true cosmic wildcard.

Only time would tell where his path would inevitably take him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Another Dimension/Reality, New York City, Morning 

"Rise and shine kid! Time to move along." Came an authoritative voice that shook him from his peaceful slumber.

"Just five more minutes." He mumbled as he tried to roll over in his bed and go back to sleep.

However it was when a particularly strong gust of wind hit him that he recalled that wind of any sort should be impossible in his room unless he was the one breaking it. For that matter his bed seemed unnaturally hard as though it had been made entirely of wood and not so much as a cotton ball put in for a mattress. It was when he heard the chuckling of a man's voice that he did not recognize that he realized that something was distinctly not right and required that he get up in order to investigate. Not exactly a course of action he was crazy about but he had learned a long time ago in Sunnydale that ignoring things of the weird usually led to things of the bad and then the dead. So with a groan born of a person who hadn't had enough sleep, by their estimation anyway, he opened his eyes to find that instead of his bedroom he looked to be in a park of some kind on a bench. Sitting all the way up he winced as his sore body protested having to sleep on something so uncomfortable as a park bench. However he sidelined that issue since he figured being someplace other than Sunnydale kind of took priority over unsatisfactory sleeping arrangements someone had stuck him with last night.

"Sorry kid but I gotta get you to move along. People are going to be coming through here soon on their morning jogs and walks." The man, now identified as a police officer, said with a grin of amusement, "As much as I sympathize with ya about disturbing your sleep I can't have some homeless kid ruining everyone else's morning."

Uh… sure… I-I'll just be on my way." Xander declared as he noticed the NYPD badge on the guys jacket and decided he didn't need to add to his problem of being on the other side of the **freakin'** country by antagonizing a police officer.

Getting up he began to walk away with the intention of finding the nearest payphone and putting in a call to Giles so he could get a plane or bus ticket back to Sunnydale. After all who knew what had happened since he'd been gone. Hmmmm, now that he thought about it, how did he get to New York? The last thing he remembered was chaperoning some brats around town as part of a forced 'volunteer' activity and then some crazy dream about him flying around as Thor. The more he thought about those last clear memories however the more he began to wonder whether or not they were real. Shaking his head he figured he could decide later after his plans to return home were finalized.

"Hey kid! Don't forget to take this with ya!" called out the policeman causing Xander to turn around to see what the guy was talking about.

Standing a dozen or so steps behind him was the police officer holding what looked to be an army duffle bag filled to capacity. Written down the side in black stencil lettering was 'J.Olson' and the bag was clearly filled to capacity. While he knew for a fact that he didn't own a duffle bag much less one with that name written on it the year and a half of experience he'd gained in Sunnydale helped sharpen his mind a bit. Given what he last remembered and the fact that the J in the 'J.Olson' could easily stand for Jake it took him less than a second to put two and two together. Figuring it was either tied to his unexpected cross-country trip or could help him get home he immediately put on a smile to make it look like the bag was indeed his rather than something he'd never seen before.

"Thanks! I must still be half asleep to forget about my brother's bag." He stated as he walked over and took the duffel bag from the officer.

While not exactly true it wasn't a complete lie either since for at least a night he was indeed Jake Olson aka Thor so one could say they were brothers from a certain point of view. Plus it would sound better to the cop and that would decrease the odds of the guy getting too nosy and running a check on him. If that happened there would be questions aplenty for him to answer and would probably lead the authorities to get in touch with Tony and Jessica Harris once they got his real name. That would lead to all kinds of badness not the least of which was the possibility of a serious beating if or when he managed to get back to California. Not only would the Harris' be suspicious of him, wondering how he'd managed to get to the other side of the country with the money they never gave him, but they'd also hate the fact that they'd been pulled away from one of their drinking binges because of their worthless son. All in all the fewer people who remembered that Xander Harris was ever in New York the better off he'd be and the easier things would be for him in the future.

"You're brother eh? What's your name kid?" asked the officer who seemed to be giving him a more thorough appraisal than before.

"Thomas Olson." He replied using the first name that popped into his head.

He'd picked it because the initials would match Thor Odinson and link him to the duffel bag of Jake Olson assuming his theory about the green sack was right. Waiting he watched as the officer considered that response and hoped that the guy would either be too nice or too lazy to doing anything about whatever itch kept him looking at the Xan-Man. Willing it with all his might it was all he could do to keep in a sigh of relief when the officer finally seemed to decide to let things slide this once.

"Alright then Thomas I'll let you get going but next time find someplace better to sleep than a park bench in Central Park okay?" The officer asked with genuine concern, "Despite all the heroes, both on and off the police force, in this city the park isn't exactly the safest place to be when you're on your own."

"Sure thing! Well seeya!" he said turning around as casually as he could before slinging the bag over his shoulder and walking away as normally as he could.

Five minutes later, as he reached the entrance/exit to Central Park, he finally allowed himself to relax since there was no way the cop had followed him this long just on a hunch. With that crisis averted he looked about and soon located a vacant telephone booth that would help him get in touch with G-Man. Walking over, he wondering how exactly he was going to drop the bomb that last night's Halloween madness had wound up putting the founding male member of the Scooby gang on the other side of the country. 'Hey Giles! Did you know that is one hundred and fifty-one feet tall? Oh and could you send me the money for a bus ticket back home?' Yeah that would go over **real** well! He'd be lucky if the Watcher's Council, whom he assumed would have to foot the bill for the ticket, didn't force him to work off his debt for the next ten years straight. TEN YEARS of wearing tweed and drinking tea for whatever the minimum wage was in the United Kingdom! Not to mention that neither Buffy or Willow would let him live it down and that fact almost made him consider just staying in New York.

Almost.

Getting into the phone booth he picked up the receiver and hit zero so he could get the operator and get him or her to help him place a collect call to Giles's place. It started out well enough when he heard the operator connect with him but things went south quickly when after he gave her both the area code and number she said G-Man's number did not exist. He repeated it to her three times before going on to Buffy's and the Willow's but those turned into dead ends as well causing him to hang up on the operator seriously annoyed. It wasn't that the operator had been mean about it or anything but rather that his mind could not comprehend what could have happened to mess with facts he considered certainties. After all it **couldn't** have been that long since Halloween! Right? Giles and the gang had to still be in Sunnydale! Right?

Right?

Suddenly he wasn't so sure anymore and wondered if the Halloween spell that had turned everyone into their costumes hadn't somehow wiped his hometown from the collective memories of the world. NO! He was Thor that night so he would've sensed if something on that magnitude had been in the works right under his nose! There had to be some other explanation or something better than the possibility that everything and everyone he cared about was gone. Deciding that he'd think better with a full stomach he looked around and after locating a diner of some kind headed over towards it. He'd made it almost past the halfway point on a crosswalk when something big flew over his head causing him to instinctively look up to see what it was. His first thought of course was a demon of some kind or maybe some idiot with a glider since those were two perfectly rational and feasible possibilities. However what he saw was so shocking and so incredibly **unfeasible** that it took the blaring horn of a New York cabbie to get him to start walking again.

_T-t-the FANTASTI-CAR!!_ He thought to himself in utter disbelief as he watched the fictional vehicle streak away into the distance towards some unknown crisis.

Almost on autopilot he walked into the diner and sat down at the nearest available booth to wait for the waitress or waiter to come ask about his order. His mind rebelled against what his eyes had seen since there was no **sane** explanation why a vehicle belonging to a fictional superhero team could exist in his world. Those guys were supposed to be **make-believe!** Seeing the waitress on her way to him he forcibly clamped down on his growing anxiety so that he wouldn't look like a nutcase coming in off the street. Putting in an order for a stack of pancakes and a glass of milk he returned to examining what was rapidly becoming the **most HELLMOUTHY** thing to happen to him in a long while if not **EVER!** Fact 1: last night (from his perspective) some magic happened turning everyone into their Halloween costumes. Fact 2: he went as Jake Olson aka Thor whereas Dawn went as Evil-Lyn and Mrs. S went as the Sorceress. Fact 3:Thor got into a fight with Evil-Lyn when she started endangering innocent bystanders and managed to trounce her first few efforts at an offensive. Fact 4: Skeletor's sexy second in command managed to get the drop on him by suckering the God of Thunder into a teleportation spell of some kind. Fact 5: Some kind of anomaly happened as the spell was taking effect causing him to lose consciousness and wake up in a New York where the Fantastic Four – no FIVE since he now recalled he'd seen that number on the side of the vehicle – are real just like he was right now.

_Maybe I'm still asleep?_ He thought to himself and quickly began to support the idea, _Yeah! That spell hit me harder than I thought and I'm just unconscious! I just need to wake myself up!_

Deciding to go with a subtle means of waking himself up just in case he was wrong he pinched himself as hard as he could in the hopes that the pain would jar him awake. Much to his regret the only thing he had to show for it afterwards was a sore patch of skin when the waitress returned with his breakfast. Deciding that this **was** reality for the time being he figured he'd better check the sack he'd been given to see if there was any money in it or he'd be working off his breakfast all day. Putting the bag on the seat next to him he pulled it open and started looking through the contents for something that looked like a wallet or something with money in it. Fortunately whoever had packed it had the foresight to put the important stuff on top since he was quickly able to find a brown leather wallet in the bag. Opening it up he found an I.D and when he saw whose it was he was overcome with a sinking feeling that once again he'd become some higher being's plaything. Right there written in black letters was the name 'Thomas Olson' that he'd just come up with on the fly earlier and the card looked well used rather than brand new. Looking throughout the rest of the wallet for other means of identification he found Thomas Olson's name elsewhere as well leaving him to believe that either someone had **sent** him to this strange world of fiction or at the very least made sure the necessities were taken care of. Well that and they, whoever they were, obviously expected that he'd be stuck in this world long enough that he'd need I.D and a sack full of clothes.

_Perfect! Just **freakin'** PERFECT!_ He thought as he started to chow down a bit more aggressively than he should have.

Seeing that people were beginning to give him odd looks he calmed down and tried not to ear like a person that'd snap and kill them all any moment. Ten minutes later he paid his bill with money he'd found in the wallet and walked out of the diner to find someplace where he could figure out the rules and characteristics of this world. After all while he was no comic book fanatic like the geek trio he was versed well enough that he knew Marvel had made many different realities/dimensions/whatever that had the familiar heroes in them. True the fact that the Fantasti-car had the number five painted on the side was a strong indicator he was in the MC2 universe it was far from being conclusive proof. After all for all he knew this was an alternate MC2 universe where the F5 was made up of completely different members than the ones he was familiar with.

_The best bet is to head to a library and look up some old newspapers or something._ He thought to himself as he spotted a public city map a block or so down the street, _They should have enough info to give me a pretty good grasp of team rosters for the good guys and the big bads._

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

2 Hours Later, The Front Steps of the New York Public Library 

_Well that settles it. I am officially in the MC2 universe. _He thought to himself with a mix of bemusement and worry.

He had gone over newspapers for the past ten years and even surfed the net since they seemed to have more info and everything he'd looked at confirmed that he was indeed in the spin-off universe created due to the success of the infamous 'What if?' issue 105. From A-Next to the Fantastic Five to Spider-girl all existed in this world almost exactly like he'd read about in his comic books back home. Most people would look at this situation and see it as a dream come true but he saw things from a much different point of view. It was one thing to read about the exciting adventures of Spider-Girl or the battles of the next generation of Avengers but that was because you were safe and not in danger. Now that he was actually here he knew that he was not so lucky and the smart thing to do would be to get out of the city as soon as he could. While he had no doubt that both the normal law enforcement and the superheroes would do everything they could to protect the city he also knew that that didn't mean you would be safe. In comics there were two things that you could almost always count on: a super battle every other week and massive property damage all over the place. At least back in Sunnydale the most he had to worry about was becoming some vampires early evening snack or being used as a lab rat for some ceremony. Here he could literally be vaporized or crushed beneath falling debris at any time and it happened so often that the people probably considered it normal.

_Okay so maybe that's exaggerating things, but I'm still not going to risk getting squished by staying. _He thought to himself as his mind began mapping out his plans for leaving the city.

However his concentration was soon shattered when the sound of screeching tires filled the air and he looked up to see the clichéd black van speed up, get alongside your typical Ford P.O.S and then force it off the road onto the front steps of the library. Deciding that trying to get away with the future battlefield in the way was suicide he found a nice little solid stone section of the front of the library and sat down to wait out the fight. Some might think him nuts for not running like a bat out of hell from there but to him it was the safest option. The goons in the van most likely had guns and that meant lead would be filling the air soon and a running person makes for a pretty attractive target to villainous fiends everywhere.

_What a minute! Since when did I start thinking in Thor speech!?_ He thought to himself as he reviewed his thoughts since waking up this morning.

While the influence was minimal at the moment he could see Thor's way of talking was creeping into him a piece at a time. After a moment of consideration he remembered that while Thor had spoken like a normal person as Jake Olson he'd thought just like the Prince of Asgard he was in the thought bubbles of the comic books. Did that mean that the longer he remained in this world the more he would start acting, thinking and speaking like Thor?

_Nay! I **mean NO!** DAMNIT!_ He thought to himself as the sounds of automatic gunfire mixed with that of the standard issue policeman's firearm, _As cool as he is there's no way I'm going to start talking like some Shakespeare reject!_

He almost started a fresh rant when out of nowhere a woman dressed in a sea blue blazer, skirt and white blouse dove into the same corner he'd picked and scrambled to put press her back against the sturdy stone. Tanned skin and brown hair done up in a ponytail he could tell both by her movements and the M1911 Colt pistol in her hand she was probably a cop. He didn't have much more time to think about it since one second later the automatic gunfire from people he presumed were criminals started focusing on his chosen corner.

"Um, no offense officer but did you have to choose **my** corner to dive into?" He asked with a nervous smile.

"What are you doing here?! RUN!" She said firmly before taking a peek around the corner of their hiding place before being forced to duck back to avoid getting a bullet in her skull.

"Yeah! RIGHT! Present a moving target to a bunch of psychos with guns who **obviously** aren't worried about running out of ammo any time soon." He said looking at her like she'd just suggested he paint himself red and dance in front of an angry bull, "You're nuts!"

For a moment she looked like she might get a bit angry but the present threat and the fact that he had a point was apparently enough for her to table her lecture for later. He had to agree with her that any arguing could wait for later because unless his ears were misleading him ,the guys with the unlimited ammo were getting closer. Not a good thing since he seriously doubted that the lady officer next to him had come prepared for a shoot out and therefore didn't have all that much ammunition herself. She'd run out long before they did and then it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel for those sleazebags to kill both him and the policewoman.

_Where are all the superheroes? _He thought as another part of him started praying for some kind of divine intervention, _Usually shootouts like this are stopped inside of ten minutes in the comics!_

Yet another reassuring assumption shattered by the reality that this world was not some well drawn comic book but real life! That meant that things could turn out just as bad if not worse for him here than it would back in Sunnydale with the vamps and the demons. As if to confirm his fear the criminals chose that moment to start using grenades as one exploded just shy of them and while he was unharmed the police lady was tagged by a piece of flying concrete and knocked unconscious. Not of the good considering that she was the only one between the two of them with a weapon. True, he could probably take the gun and try and hold off the crooks for awhile but considering he'd never used a gun before in his life he's hit the broad side of a BMW before he'd hit his target. That or an innocent bystander in the same situation as him and that wasn't something he was willing to risk at all. So to make a long story short he was outnumbered, outgunned and utterly without a clue!

_If a hero doesn't show up soon, both me and this officer are going to have our own special spots in the obituaries tomorrow! _He thought as the goon squad continued to lay down cover fire to keep the officer, who they probably thought was still conscious, pinned down.

It was then he was hit with what had to be the most ludicrous idea he'd had since that time he thought it'd be a good idea to force Deadboy to lead him to the lair of the Master. True that had worked out alright but it was also pretty stupid since he probably would have been killed if the idiot had thought to leave a five or more minions behind to guard his home. Still this new idea was the only hope either he or the officer laying unconscious before him had.

_I hope this works! _He thought before he raised his right fist up high before slamming it down onto the ground.

For less than a split second he thought that he'd just made an utter ass of himself but when his vision suddenly became submerged in a bright white light and the sound of lightning filled the air he couldn't help but smile as he felt a power fill and transform him. In the blink of an eye it was done and now in the place of one Xander Harris aka Thomas Olson, was a being more like unto a god than of the race of men. Standing up he found that the transformation had changed him quite a bit but hadn't turned him into an exact copy of Thor like he'd expected. The pants and the shirt were close copies of those worn by the Ultimate version of Thor except that the circular plates of metal that looked technological in the comics were in this case functional armor that looked tough. The boots, wristbands and cape however were definitely of the mainstream Thor leaving only a helmet that looked like a cross between something from Lord of the Rings and the Thunderer's traditional helmet. All in all it was something that, while distinctive, didn't look as corny as, say, Wolverine's yellow and blue spandex combination would in real life. In his opinion, it was both stylish and functional both of which were absolute musts in his opinion when it came to a combat outfit.

"Who the hell're you?!" Asked one of the group of five crooks, most likely the leader, sounding only a little hesitant at this new development.

_Time to build on that while they still think I know what I'm doing!_ He thought before replying, "Mine name is not for the likes of thee foul villains! Thy only concern now should be a swift surrender lest ye invoke my wrath."

He knew he was probably making a few mistakes in trying to sound like Thor but the way he figured it the more they linked him to the famous Avenger the less likely they'd be to try and fight it out with him. After all, the God of Thunder was thought of by the entire world as being one of the strongest heroes on the planet and that would lead them to assume that he was at least as close to the Lord of Asgard's strength. They'd have to be complete idiots to try and take him on!

"He's crazy! Kill'im!" Ordered the lead goon as he took aim with his AK-47 and began firing.

"Fool! Thou dost seal thy own fate by refusing to surrender!" He yelled as he charged the armed men whirling his version of Thor's hammer in front of him to deflect the bullets, "HAVE AT THEE!"

He knew that in the comic books Thor was pretty much impervious to anything short of some high tech laser cannon but that didn't mean he was. In fact, he wasn't even sure if his copy of Mjolnir was strong enough to repel or even block the bullets coming his way. So basically he was making one helluva assumption concerning what he could do right now and could quite possibly be committing suicide by charging these guys head on. That never stopped him from doing the right thing before and it wasn't going to hold him back now. It was all or nothing!

Deciding that he would be best suited to ending to the fight quickly, he gave his Mjolnir one further circular swing before hurling it directly at the lead goon. He had used his own strength to take back most of the power the thrown hammer would have had but that was only because he didn't want the weapon to go right through the guy. Without knowing his exact limits, he had to be very careful he didn't kill one of these guys by accident. Hell! He had to make sure he didn't seriously injure them **period** otherwise they'd probably lawyer up and try and sue him for excessive force or something. Watching carefully, he saw the mighty hammer strike the man right in the chest, knocking him off his feet and to the ground as though he'd been tackled by an elite tackler. Drawing upon the nebulous memories he retained from when the Halloween spell was still active he mentally summoned the hammer back to his hand and thankfully it responded just like the true hammer of the Thunder God would have. A good thing too, since it would have been kinda hard to go and pick it up with the four other killers firing at him even more aggressively than before now that their leader was down.

However the frantic firing of the remaining men posed an even bigger problem since it meant the guys were taking less care in making quality shots, preferring to just blanket the entire area in his direction with deadly pieces of hot lead. He had to end this swiftly and finally or else it was only a matter of time before someone paid the price for his inexperience.

"You cowardly curs show your true colors with thy blatant disregard for the lives threatened by your careless firing!" He yelled angrily as he brought Mjolnir over his head, "It will **end ANON!**"

With all the strength he could muster he brought the powerful hammer down hard smashing it into the ground with such force that all who felt it likened it to a violent earthquake. To those close to him, though, it was as if a bomb had gone off and, in a certain way, it had because the hammer strike he'd just delivered was so strong that it created a pool sized crater around him, knocking all of the crooks clear off their feet. Shattered piece of the stonework in front of the library flew through the air and the dirt thrown into the air obscured much. The second that description passed through his mind he shook it out since it meant that more of the remnants of Thor left over from the Halloween spell were taking root. It was probably a side effect of being in this form, the longer he remained a wannabe Thor, the stronger the Thunder God elements became, which was most definitely not of the good. Looking around, he was happy to see that the four remaining crooks were out cold on the ground and didn't look like they had anything worse than maybe a broken arm to cope with.

_Good! Now I better change back while no one's looking before I wind up more Thor than Xander._ He thought to himself after being satisfied that the dirt and debris in the air would hide him from prying eyes.

Slamming his copy of Mjolnir onto the ground pommel first he was happy when a flash of light and a crack of thunder later he was back to being plain old Xander Harris. Even better was the fact that his clothes were still on him as well after the transformation. He had been a little worried that his transformation earlier had vaporized his 'civilian clothes' and that he'd wind up naked as the day he was born when he changed back. Not exactly the way any guy would want to end a bit of clobberin' time with some gun happy thugs. With a smile at a job well done, assuming of course the library had insurance covering something like this, he decided it was best to make a quick exit before people came looking around. He was **not** looking forward to having to file a police report on all of this or any uncomfortable questions concerning the Thor look-a-like that crooks would likely start babbling about when they came too. So with a quick step and a half-baked escape route he started to walk briskly away hoping he never had to do something like that again.

**BLAM!**

As a painful spear of agony lanced through his left shoulder, he suddenly found himself wishing that he had come back naked because if this was the universe's alternate punishment for him it somehow managed to both suck and blow at the same time. His body spinning around with the force of the bullet he only barely was able to see the leader of the band of crooks struggling to stay on his feet with a smoking AK-47 in his hands. He vaguely counted his blessings that the guy had apparently only had enough ammo for one shot otherwise he'd be Swiss cheese right then. Tumbling to the ground, he almost went all the way to his back but was able to stay in a sitting position by stopping his fall with his uninjured arm. Unfortunately, the sudden stop jarred the rest of his body and caused another stab of pain to go through him thanks to the bloody hole in his left shoulder. Black spots intruded into vision as the combination of pain, shock and increasing blood loss put a strain on his body. Nevertheless, he knew that if he let himself lose conscious there was a serious chance that he'd never wake up again.

"I can't **fucking** believe **IT!**" Exclaimed the leader of the band of crooks as he approached on wobbly feet, "My perfect job! The thing that was going to get me noticed by the Kingpin **himself!** Screwed up by some halfwit kid playing hero! You're **DEAD** you piece of **shit!**"

"Actually, I think he's kind of cute, but that's just my opinion!" Came a playful yet sarcastic female voice that talked in a way Buffy always did when taking down vamps.

Just as the killer turned to see what new threat wanted to make his day even worse, a string of what looked like webbing shot through the air impacting on the end of the AK's barrel and clogged it completely. A second or two was all the time anyone had to comprehend this before a female form in red and blue spandex dropped from above and delivered a T.K.O punch right to the thug leader's jaw. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the killer dropped like a ton of bricks to the ground, ceasing to be a threat completely and finally putting an end to the entire mess. Strength wavering and consciousness getting harder and harder to keep a hold of, he looked up to see who his savior was and somehow managed to attach the name Spider-Girl to the spandex wearing young woman before him. She turned to look at him but because of the mask he could only guess what expression was on her face but he hoped that he wasn't worrying her too much.

"Hey guy? You going to be okay?" She asked letting only a trace of her true worry into her voice, "'Cause it'd really ruin my big rescue if you ended up dying on me."

"I'm f'ne. Don' worry." He managed to get out with only a touch of slurring in his words, "I'm used to beautiful girls savin' m… me…."

That was all he could get out before the last of his strength left him and the world began to go dark.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Mount Sinai Medical Center, The Next Day, Mid-Morning 

"Ohhhhh… Getting shot's no fun!" Xander groaned as he began to regain consciousness.

"Yeah but getting hit in the head with rock fragments is worses kid." Said a woman's voice from somewhere nearby to his left.

Opening his eyes it took a moment for them to adjust to the light but once they did he turned in the direction of the voice and saw the lady officer that dove into his hiding spot at the library. She didn't look too bad considering that she got knocked out with debris from a grenade explosion, but a thorough wrapping of bandages around her head told him that what injuries she did have were significant. Still, at least he'd have company while he recovered but he'd have to make that as little time as possible since he wanted out of this place sooner rather than later. While he knew that whoever had dropped him in this world had given him a wallet with the necessary ID, some cash and some clothes he didn't known how extensive his false identity was or how hard it would be to find out that there was no Thomas Olson. If they found out that the whole thing was a big lie there was no telling how long they'd hold onto him or if they'd let him go at all. They'd probably saddle him with a babysitter until they got to 'the truth' and, when they didn't, they'd probably send him into the foster care circuit until someone signed for him. All in all not exactly the sort of roller coaster ride he was interested in getting in on.

"Depends on how you look at it. From my point of view you'll probably need a week tops of bed rest and maybe a bottle of extra strength Tylenol to get better." He declared while testing the mobility of his left arm, "Me, I'm probably looking at month before I can get the bandages and stitches out then I'll probably need two bottles of Tylenol just to get by, I get it worse officer…?"

"It's Captain actually, Captain Maria Ruiz." Ruiz said filling in the blanks for him where her name was concerned, "I can see your point but at least you'll be able to hide your scar. I'll probably have to lay the make up on extra thick to keep my good looks."

"You know you'll always be the poster girl for our precinct, Captain!" Came a humorous voice from the door to the room.

Walking in was two guys, one officer and one lab jockey from the looks of it, and both looked like they wanted to put the best possible spin on the situation. One was African-American and, from the looks of things, a detective since he was pretty sure there was a point in the ranks where officers were expected to wear suits rather than the standard issue blues. While the guy behind him was also wearing a suit he didn't quite have the same feel to him as the detective so he must be either a lawyer or a lab jockey. When that last possibility came up in his hand something clicked and he re-examined the guy from top to bottom. A distinct limp and walking with a cane, consistent with someone with a prosthetic limb, and a brown goatee with brown hair as well as a small little patch of gray/white hair dead center in the front. While he couldn't be certain, real life people being distinctly different from drawings in comics, he was willing to put a whole box full of Twinkies on the bet that this guy was **the** Peter Parker.

_HOLY SHIT! The original web-head is in **my** room!_ He thought to himself like a ten year old while trying to keep any of his shock or glee off of his face.

It was made a lot easier when he considered the possibility that Pete might be able to sense something off of him that could give away his little secret. After all, while Spider-Man's spider sense was for the most part an early warning system for incoming danger, it also tipped the wall crawler off to dangerous individuals. Would Parker be able to sense the Xan-man's inner Thor-ness? Probably not so long as he kept to the happy thoughts and kept the less than pleasant ones locked up tight in the back of his mind.

"Flattery will get you demoted back to beat cop, Detective." Ruiz said with mock seriousness making it clear she was just joking before her face became all business, "I assume you came here to give me the latest on the firefight in front of the New York Public Library."

"Yes. From what we've been able to put together in the last twenty-four hours we've been able to tie all five of the gunmen to several middle level crime families," replied the detective as he consulted the notes he'd made on his notepad. "Since it's unlikely that five separate families decided to band together on their own I suspect that the Kingpin is behind this somehow. My guess is that it's retaliation for that incident at the Ambiance Fashions bust a few weeks ago."

"Possibly but it's a bit overkill to be Fisk's style. More likely it was one of his lieutenants trying to move up in the ranks by impressing him." Maria said after considering her detective's theory, "Any luck on the forensic side of things, Parker?"

_Maybe, but then again, maybe not. _Xander thought as the detective's theory meshed with what he recalled the lead thug said before Spider-Girl took him down, _One of the big rules in the organized crime biz is never to show weakness and that means squashing your enemies when they foil a job you wanted done. _

"Not so far. The AKs were pretty much standard models without any modifications to give us any clue where they were purchased." Parker replied while occasionally giving quick glances in Xander's direction, "We'll know more in the next day or so once Phil finishes running down the serial numbers in the database. I wouldn't hold out for any breaks though. If they were the Kingpin's men then all of their gear will just have paper trails leading in circles, if not to outright dead ends."

"You're probably right. Put some more pressure on the gunmen." Ruiz ordered as she rubbed her chin contemplatively, "Maybe one of them will roll and give us something we can use. Any information on that cape that stopped them?"

"Nothing substantial from civilians since most of them were either too far away or too busy hiding to see anything clearly. However, taking all of the characteristics that were most commonly mentioned it sounds like someone decided to copy Thor." The Detective replied with a little bit of frustration at the absence of solid info, "He wielded a hammer and apparently talked like the old Avenger. Given the damage that was done to the front of the library, he was certainly a powerhouse as well."

"What about you, Olson? You have anything to add about this Thor wannabe?" Captain Ruiz asked as she looked at him with inquisitive eyes.

"Sorry Cap but I was a little bit busy keeping my head down." He replied with the same voice he'd used to lie to Buffy before the final battle with Angelus, "The only reason I stepped out later was 'cause I thought it was all over. Guess I should have stayed down until your people arrived."

From the looks on their faces neither Parker or Ruiz were completely buying his response but the detective apparently saw no reason to doubt him since he was jotting it down on his notepad. However it was the safest response to give them since anything else might make them think that he knew more than he appeared to and that would be bad. He had to get the hell out of the city as soon as he could or else he was going to be peppered with more questions than he cared to answer.

"I guess so but it also leaves the question of what you're doing in the city." The Detective stated in a tone that implied he wanted the Xan-man to fill in some blanks.

"I've been doing a little cross country hitchhiking and thought I'd spin by the city that my cousin Jake had worked in for a few years." He explained trying to mix the truth with fiction in the right proportions to make it believable, "I'd planned to see the sights and stay at a friend's place but turns out he left town awhile ago so I went to the library to do some reading before I looked for somewhere else to crash for a few days."

What the detective said next knocked him off his feet because it was most definitely the last thing he was expecting.

"Well that pretty much fits with what we were told by your cousin earlier when we called her. She said she'd be in to see you in a little while after she finished filling out the rest of the paperwork on you." Stated the Detective as he closed his notepad up and put it away, "If you remember anything else about the attack at the library or this Kid Thor character please let us know."

"S-sure Detective. You bet." He replied barely able to cover his shock and confusion at the mention of a 'cousin' being here to see him.

While on the surface he looked calm and casual on the inside he was madly scrambling to figure out who exactly was claiming to be his cousin and why. He knew for a fact that Alexander LaVelle Harris didn't have a cousin or rather one that would be involved in serious enough weirdness to have followed him here to this reality. It was more likely that whoever this woman was that she was connected to the preparations the unknown entity had made when he'd dropped the male Scooby in this world.

_Good! Maybe she'll know of a way to get me back to Sunnydale._ He thought as his worry began to disperse with the hope of getting back where he belonged, _At the very least I hope she can solve my room and board problems 'case I really don't want to have to spend the rest of my time in this crazy world sleeping on a park bench._


	2. Tests and Choices

One and a Half Hours Later, Xander's Hospital Room 

_What's taking her so long!?_ He thought angrily as he still waited for this mysterious 'cousin' of his to show up, _You'd think she was required to transcribe her entire DAY onto paper before the paperwork was finished!_

It might seem odd to some that he was acting so impatient after only an hour and a half, but most would not realize that he saw this cousin as his only ride home and, at that moment, his desire to get back to Sunnydale was pretty strong. While it was kind of cool to be in a world that previously had only been a work of fiction, it was also a little scary considering the sort of people that lived here. For one thing, in this dimension gods, goddesses and deities were far more likely to interfere in the world of men than back home and people of great power and skill were everywhere. Add to that the fact that he was in a city where any insurance company that **didn't** have superheroes, super villains and calamities in their contracts was considered **insane** and his anxiety was quite significant indeed. So the sooner he managed to get back home, the safer he'd feel.

_I'll take vampires and demons over the Red Skull and Loki any day of the week!_ He thought just as the sound of the door opening reached his ears.

Looking to see who it was he was momentarily stunned to see a **gorgeous** blonde woman that looked like she could easily replace Jolene Blalock as his number one fantasy girl walk into the room. Her clothes were pretty middle class since they were comprised of jeans, white short sleeved shirt and brown leather jacket but at that moment he was of the opinion that **ANYTHING** would look good on her. However before he could think any more thoughts like those, he was reminded by his common sense that Captain Ruiz was in the room and that it would seem **odd** for one cousin to be ogling another with neither being hillbillies.

"What are you doing here, cousin?" He asked trying to make that sound like the reason for the shocked look on his face, "I didn't really believe it was you when the Detective said that you'd come to see me."

"Well I was about five miles out of town when I got a call saying you were in the hospital and since neither your parents or mine could get away from work, I decided I'd take care of you," replied the Olson cousin, sounding completely believable with flawless acting.

"Well, it's nice to see that the kid has someone to keep him out of trouble Ms…..?" Captain Ruiz said leadingly while holding her hand out for a handshake.

"Tara Olson, Captain Ruiz, and I agree that Thomas can be something of a handful when he gets it in his head to do something." Tara said giving her name and with a smile her own opinion of her 'cousin'.

_TARA OLSON! That was the alias Thor Girl, also known as Tarene the Designate, used when she lived on Earth!_ Xander thought as his hopes of meeting someone with the power to send him home went up in smoke.

In the space of two seconds everything he knew and parts of what he'd retained from his time as Thor flashed through his mind. If Tarene was here than it was far more likely she was here at the behest of Thor himself and that did not bode well **at ALL!** While the God of Thunder had been portrayed as being noble and honorable in the comics, there was no telling how he'd react to some mortal walking on Midgard imitating him and wielding an enchanted hammer patterned after Mjolnir. For all he knew, she intended to take him to Asgard to stand trial or something equally unpleasant and, since he was a little foggy on how to travel between dimensions, he'd be trapped in that realm. On the other hand, since he recalled that Thor ruled Asgard in this reality and, thus, would possess the Odinforce and that might just be enough to get him home. All in all his desire to return home was strong enough that he'd be willing to go to Asgard, but not without first transforming into his Thor junior or Thorian, as he had come to call his superhero identity, form. At least then he might stand a chance of escape if things got out of hand.

Not a great chance, but better than nothing.

"Hey! It's not my problem the rest of the family can't keep up with me," he said, trying to keep up the façade that he and Tarene were related.

All three chuckled a little at this comment and that meant a serious step in the direction of feasibility for this charade.

"Maybe, but you really should have called ahead and let me know you'd be in town. You could have stayed at my place," Tara said reproachfully with extra emphasis on him letting others know where he was going.

"Yeah, well, I hadn't really made up my mind on where I'd go next until yesterday." He explained attempting to convey that he hadn't had any advance warning that he was going to be dropped here either, "In any case, I wanted to manage on my own for this road trip rather than rely on help from my relatives. I actually had planned to spin by your place sooner or later but obviously fate had other plans."

"Well then I have good news for you - in three hours you'll be able to see my home as much as you like," Tarene said with a half-smile that spoke of much hidden meaning.

"Huh?" He asked almost stupidly as he was fairly certain he'd be stuck in the hospital for at least a few days before the staff and doctors here would even considering letting him leave the premises.

"My big brother caught wind of what happened and insisted that you be brought to his place to recuperate." Tara Olson replied with a growing smile of amusement, "He said he already has some qualified doctors ready and just needed me to come and pick you up."

_Oh Boy! I am **so** in trouble! _He thought since he had no illusions as to whom Thor Girl was talking about when she talked about her Big Brother.

According to the comic book canon that he was familiar with, Tarene originally lived on a far off world until the villain Thanos showed up, hoping to gain ultimate power by combining three artifacts with her own hidden power. As usual, though, Thor arrived, did battle and managed to defeat the lover of Death as well as his minions before heading back home to Earth. However he would soon be followed there by Tarene, who had become something of an admirer of Thor, and even had tried her hand at the superhero gig in a costume patterned after the Thunderer's. When Thor was made ruler of Asgard, the Designate had even tried to fill the Thunder God's shoes as a superhero on Earth but was a **tad** inexperienced, which resulted in a little bit of property damage and bruising. Things tended to diverge from there as far as what happened to her because in one timeline she was apparently slain by the Grey Gargoyle, who had gone hunting for immortality. Following that timeline, she would become the spirit of an amulet that would empower the god killer Desak, allowing him to slay any with the power of or claiming to be a god. Things would build and build until, in the far future, a changed and harsh Thor would learn the error of his ways and go back in time to ensure that his past and that time's future never came to exist. He'd been a bit spotty as far as what happened in Thor comics after that alternate future came to an end, but whatever it was it had put the title officially on hiatus soon afterwards.

_Whatever the situation, Thor is definitely who she's referring to when she says **big brother** and that means she intends to take me to Asgard. _He thought not liking the idea of going to the home of the Norse Gods all that much.

After all, the memories and skills he'd retained from his time portraying Thor back in Sunnydale were like half thoughts and vague memories to him. If he allowed Tarene to take him to Asgard, then he would be trapped because he wasn't sure he had the skill or the ability to travel between dimensions himself. Given how many unfriendly dimensions had been illustrated in the pages of Marvel Comics and how many he knew from research sessions with the gang he knew that finding the right Earth, or even **a** Earth, would be difficult. While he was confident that, with practice, he could manage it, that would only be the case if he **survived** any failed attempts that landed him in a hell dimension. All in all, he was not going to let this 'cousin' of his cart him off to Asgard without a fight but, since violence would likely result in his getting pummeled, he'd use reasoning and words instead.

"Well you can tell your big bro that he can send all the docs back to where he found them." He said trying to sound annoyed or something like that, "I'm not going to take one step into that man's home. I've got better things to do than owe him anything."

"I promise you, Thomas, that my brother only wants to help you out." Tara said a little in shock over his position towards Thor, "Once he's satisfied that you're all better, you'll be free to go and maybe he'll even fund the rest of your road trip."

"Maybe, but won't he go a little overkill when it comes to lecturing me about getting shot and everything that led up to that?" He asked hinting that Thor might be a little miffed about some mortal accessing the powers of Thor, or at least copying him for all to see.

"Not at all. His own sources have given him a full briefing on what happened and I assure you that he's just interested to meet you." Thor Girl replied with understanding as the hints connected in her mind, "To tell you the truth, I think he'd have done the same thing in your place. In fact if half the stories I've heard about him are true, he was just as headstrong and reckless as you are when he was young."

"You've got a point," he said as he recalled the adventures illustrated in the mini-series entitled 'Thor Son of Asgard'.

That series was about the adventures Thor had with Sif and Balder leading up to the moment when he claimed Mjolnir and, indeed, the Thunderer of those comics was headstrong and reckless. Personally he liked to think he had a bit more sense than that but, in his heart, he knew he was probably no more level-headed than the Thunder God at this point in his life. If what Tarene said was true, then it probably would be a good idea to go to Asgard with her. He'd probably heal from his injuries in a day there and if anyone could figure out a way for him to return home, it'd be the ruler of Asgard himself. However he'd be lying if he said he didn't still feel some amount of wariness about going to another dimension without a way of his own to get back. If things went poorly, like say all of Asgard tried to kill him, he'd be lucky if he survived a week! Still, he had hope that the real life Thor wouldn't be too different from the Thor that he'd read about in the comics back home.

"So when will we be heading out?" He asked, wanting to know how much time he might have before having to endure the wrath of a god that didn't appreciate having some wannabe copy him.

"Today actually. While I was signing the paperwork out front, I also requested that you be discharged into my care immediately." Tarene replied promptly, as if she had been waiting for him to ask exactly that question.

"Shouldn't he remain in the hospital for awhile longer, Ms. Olson?" Captain Ruiz asked from her bed a few feet away from his own.

"Usually that would be the case but my big brother has some pull and was able to get a hold of some skilled doctors that will be able to take care of him back home." Tara Olson replied with a dismissive look, "Besides, I happen to know that Tommy here doesn't really like hospitals all that much, so I figured it'd be better to let him out of it now rather than wait until he tries to sneak out on his own."

"Well, she's got me there!" He declare with humor as the Designates remark about him proved that she at least had received advance warning that Xander Harris was coming to this world.

After all, it was true that he didn't like hospitals, albeit for a different reason than most would think. He hated them because hospitals were where he saw his mom when she had gotten beaten up so badly by Tony that she required immediate medical care. Hospitals were where he was taken when Tony got particularly drunk and decided to take all **his faults** out on his son. Hospitals were where people went to die when they were too ill to get better and so he always associated them with pain and death. He knew that everyone else probably saw them as places of healing, but all he could remember was the pain he felt on the way there and the fuzziness of the medicine on the way home. While he wasn't sure what Asgardian medicine was like or what their places of healing operated, he was sure it'd be different enough that he wouldn't see them the same way as Earth hospitals. So if this surprise change in the schedule would get him out of this place sooner, rather than later, then he would go along with it. Wouldn't change how he felt about going to a place he didn't have his own way out of, but at least it'd be different.

"Well, since everything's settled, I'll go call big bro and let him know you're coming and then we can start getting your things together okay?" The Designate asked as she half turned towards the door.

"Sure. Just make sure that they've got Twinkies where we're going!" He said with a smile that showed he was only being half serious.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Empty Apartment, Two Hours Later 

"So what now?" Xander/Thomas asked once Tarene had closed the door to the apartment she'd taken him to.

It had been amazingly quick how fast he'd been signed out of the hospital and even more surprising that the doctors hadn't put up that much of a fuss when Tara had walked him out of there. Was it some sort of suggestive magic, a greasing of palms or were they just bowled over by her impeccable beauty and charm? Personally he thought it was money because he didn't think Tarene would have used magic on them like that and that old stereotype about old men being a bunch of lechers couldn't possibly be true. Could it? Nah! He watched too many of those sort of animes.

"Now we go to my 'big brother'." Tara Olson replied before slamming her fist into the floor causing a brought flash of light to fill the room.

When the light had faded and spots had vanished from his eyes, he beheld a sight that made even the most elite supermodels look like residents of a food-deprived refugee camp by comparison. Standing before him, confirmed for the first time since he made his guess as to whom she was, was Thor Girl decked out in her Thor-patterned costume that definitely flattered her figure. Of course, given that he might be in something of a sticky situation, it was probably not a good idea to be ogling his travel agent like this. However, being a teenage male that had few opportunities to be near a woman that was definitely Victoria Secret material naturally, he had a hard time hearing the voice of reason through the haze of hormones. Fortunately, as a smile blossomed on her face and a light chuckle from her mouth, she apparently found it only amusing rather than offensive.

"While it's nice to know that I haven't lost my appeal to men, I would suggest you practice some restraint once we reach Asgard." Tarene said as she began whirling her hammer above her head, "Not all of them women there will take such obvious staring so lightly."

Images of Asgard women like Sif, Amora and Brunnhilda with 'The Look' on their faces and their hands going for their weapons immediately motivated him to suppress his lower impulses and put a more professional poise on immediately.

"Sure. Right. No Problem." He said promptly doing his best to return to a casual and friendly way of acting.

All Thor Girl did was smile even more before she dramatically sped up the whirling of the hammer and energy began to form along the path that the head of the hammer took. With each whirl the energy grew thicker and thicker and then, with all the subtlety of a dropped anvil, it shot downwards encasing the two of them in white energy. For a moment he wondered what it would be like to be transported to Asgard, wondered if there would be a feeling of distortion or something, but then just as this thought crossed his mind the cylinder of energy that surrounded him and Tarene dispersed into nothingness. For a moment he was a little disappointed in the whole 'teleport-to-another-world' thing but the sight before his eyes quickly shattered that feeling and almost slammed into a proverbial blue screen of death.

_Good Lord!_ He thought not even caring that he'd unintentionally mimicked G-Man's response to something amazing or stupefying happening.

He'd seen numerous artist interpretations of Asgard in the Thor comics over the years and many of them managed to give the feel of an unearthly realm but compared to what he was seeing now those artists might as well have been five year olds with crayons. It was unlike anything he had seen before and he doubted that he'd see anything even close in the future no matter what. A golden city that was a perfect mesh of godhood and Viking styles was laid out before him and leading up to it was the fabled rainbow bridge that he just now realized he was standing on. Unlike in the comic books, where it was depicted as being just a common stone bridge painted to look like a rainbow, this one was an actual rainbow bridge made of colors and light. For a moment he was afraid that he was going to fall through it but then he realized that it would have happened the moment he arrived if it was going to happen at all.

"Welcome to Asgard, young one! Home of the Norse Gods and kingdom of Lord Thor." Tarene proclaimed as she pointed at the city with her mighty hammer, "Now let us go. Lord Thor is expecting us and we do not want to keep him waiting."

"Y-yeah. Sure!" He said as he tried to suppress the feelings of awe and disbelief in him enough to follow the Designate down the colorful bridge towards the city.

With every step though he could not help but be struck by the unbelievable things that were happening to him since that fateful moment in the Geek Club's room at school. It had started out as a simple, yet unwilling, job of escorting a group of kids around the neighborhoods for two hours after which would hopefully be some fun at the Bronze. Then things had spiraled out of control with a spell that turned people into who or whatever they were dressed up as and now he was in a dimension/reality/world where characters he'd only ever seen in the comic books were as real as he was. Even now he was on his way to **freakin' Asgard** to meet **THE** Thor who was now the ruler of this realm and wielder of the Odinforce. What was going to happen? How would the Thunderer react to someone like him wielding the powers of the God of Thunder? Should he try to speak all Shakespearean like Thor did in the comics or just act natural? So many questions so little time to prepare so he did **NOT** get a lightning bold shoved up his butt **AND** down his throat.

It took them about ten minutes to reach the front gates of the city proper and, just as he expected, the legendary guardian Heimdall was standing at his post ready to repel all intruders. Decked out in impressive gold and red armor with a rather overstated lance in his left hand, the Xan-man had no doubt that this guy did his job and did it well. It took the guardsman less than a moment to spot them and while his stance said 'they are permitted to enter' his eyes said 'make one mistake and I **WILL** shove this lance up your candy ass'. Trying to look casual, he had a feeling it wasn't working because he could have sword that he briefly saw a look of amusement in Heimdall's eyes. Deciding it would be best to keep his eyes looking ahead rather than to the sides, he locked his cranium in that position. Not that the view was less than good straight ahead because, given the awe inspiring impressiveness of the city, there was always something gape worthy.

Of course the fact that Tarene was in front of him and her red cape occasionally pasted itself to her butt when the wind blew just right was a definite bonus.

Walking through the city of the Norse gods and goddesses he noticed that he and Thor Girl were attracting quite a few glances from the citizenry. Given the Designate's status and relationship to Thor it was understandable and given he looked like your average male mortal of Midgard. No doubt the rumor mill was revving up and by this evening he had no doubt that no less than fifty rumors would be circulating about him and why he was being escorted by Thor Girl to the palace. He wasn't really certain what sort of rumors they would be but he bet at least one of them would be that he was Thor's illegitimate son or something like that. Not that he was averse to the rumor, since he'd consider it an honor to be considered the son of the legendary mighty Thor, but he was pretty sure that the Thunderer and his subordinates would be quick to quash any rumors they found distasteful.

It took them about ten minutes but eventually they came to stand in front of what he presumed was the official palace of the ruler of Asgard. While not quite worthy of a Camelot 'wow', it definitely fit the person who lived in it to a T.

"Lord Thor is waiting for you inside." Tarene said as she stepped to the side, "Speak truthfully and respectfully but most of all please try to relax. Thor merely wishes to ask you a few questions and ascertain your intentions."

"You mean that you're not coming in with me?" He asked trying to conceal the shock and wariness he felt at the thought of facing the God of Thunder without someone in his corner.

"No. I was bid only to bring you to him. No more." She replied professionally but with a bit of reassurance in her eyes.

"O-kay! Fine. Good." He muttered to himself as he walked up the steps leading to the main entrance of the palace.

With each step a fear and uneasiness grew within him since he was now about to confront the concern he'd been thinking about ever since first transforming in front of the library. He tried to reassure himself that Thor was the good guy here and that all he needed to do was tell the absolute truth and he'd be back on this universe's Earth in an hour. Reaching out he grabbed one of the rings that served as doorknobs in Asgard and yanked back on it. It took a bit of oomph to get the door moving, since it was definitely heavier than it looked, but eventually the opening was wide enough for him to walk through and walk through he did. What he saw was a grand audience hall that was exactly the way he expected it be and looked like it had been made by a movie crew doing a fantasy-Dungeons & Dragons-Lord of the Rings type movie. However there was one thing missing at the moment that if it had been there would have made everything perfect.

No one was there besides him.

The room was completely empty and, while the torches did flicker and fireplace did crackle, there was not another living soul present as far as he could tell. Stepping carefully forward, he looked back and forth for any sign of life but, despite careful scrutiny of what shadows there were as well as any wall hangings that someone could hide behind, there was nothing he could detect. For a moment he considered going back and asking Tarene if they were early or something but before he could he heard the 'twang' of a bowstring being released and immediately dove to the side. Rolling into a crouch position he found out that it was a good thing that he did move because, sticking out of the ground where he had stood not six seconds previously, was a very real, very **pointy**, looking arrow. He didn't have much time to contemplate that as three other factors quickly came to demand his attention in the form of two women and a man coming at him with either a sword or a spiked mace. Not knowing what was going on, and not particularly caring giving the circumstances, he looked about for some kind of weapon to defend himself with. Seeing what he thought was a short sword hanging from a hook on one of the support beams he ran over and quickly took it off. Unsheathing the short sword, he kept the sheath with him figuring he could use one for offense and the other for defense and, considering he was outnumbered, two was most definitely better than one. A blonde girl, about his own age, was the first to strike, and while he was able to get the sheath up to block he badly underestimated her strength almost to the point where he got close enough to the blade to see his face in it. Pushing forward with both his arms and his legs he shoved her backwards but found her sword quickly replaced by the mace of her ebon haired comrade as a slightly younger teenage girl brought her weapon down from above. With the sheath too far away to block in time and him not being entirely confident that his short sword would be strong enough to block the mace, he charged under the woman's guard and tackled her to the ground.

_I need to stop them from acting like a team or even thinking straight! _He thought to himself in the seconds between hitting the floor and what came next, _One-on-one I can deal with but three on one will end up with a **very** dead Xander!_

With very little time to think up a good plan, much less a well thought out one, he did the first thing he could think of that would mess with Mr. Crow hair's mind.

He kissed her.

On the **LIPS** no less.

Rolling to the side as he heard the angry bellow of the redheaded guy part of the trio of enemies, he narrowly managed to avoid getting skewered by the young man's sword. Fortunately the pause in the redhead's thrust, so as not to harm Ms. Crow Hair, was enough time to allow him to regain his footing. However the break was brief because the blonde girl that had been the first to attack him was back and definitely looking to put him down quickly. She swung wide with her sword and he brought both his short sword and its sheath up to block the attack before lashing out with a sidekick, hoping to catch her in the stomach. Unfortunately he'd done something to tip her off because her body was definitely not where it was supposed to be for his attack to be effective, resulting in the Xan-man being seriously unbalanced. Barbie took advantage of that and expertly got inside his guard before grabbing the outstretched leg he'd used and pushed it up. Naturally this forced the other foot to follow its partner, causing him to begin falling to the ground so he did what any person would when falling which is look for something to stop that fall. Reaching out, he made an attempt to latch onto her arm so he'd at least bring her down with him when he went.

Unfortunately his aim was a little off and the distance between him and her misjudged a bit.

Instead of grabbing her left arm just below the shoulder he instead latched onto the top of her shirt instead and… well… let's just say that there was ripping and a shriek of outrage followed by him fearing for his family jewels among other things. Scrambling to his feet in order to put some distance between him and the Baywatch girl, who now had to use one hand to preserve her modesty, although it was not nearly as comforting as some might think, while unintentional, the move did achieve the goal of messing with the girl and he had no doubt with the kind of rage on her face that thoughtful planning was no longer up for consideration as far as he was concerned. Nope! Now she looked like she wanted to cut him open and show him what his large intestine looked like firsthand. Charging him with a speed he'd only ever seen Buffy or a vamp manage, he quickly moved to put the strongest thing he could find between him and the angry blonde heading his way. Zipping around a support post, he took up a defensive stance while at the same time making sure that the thick piece of wood stayed between him and his angry assailant. She made numerous attempts to get around the pole and at him but, thankfully, numerous days escaping from bullies back in Sunnydale kept him one step ahead of her. Sadly a part of his mind warned him that there were two other opponents to keep track of but just a second too late as a blast of green energy, magic most likely, flew through the air punching through the column and right into his chest. Knocked clear off his feet and barely thinking coherently, he figured that the pole must have taken the brunt of the blast for him otherwise he'd have one more hole than a human should have.

_Not **GOOD!** _He thought as he forced himself into a crouching position, _It's one thing to deal with melee weapons but now **magic** is on the table! I gotta even the odds and quick or they're going to be peeling me off the wall!_

Unfortunately against magic and two swords there was only one way he could think of to put the battle back on an even keel. It was something that, if he did, it would allow him to put an end to the battle but it might also just make Thor mad at him when it was all over. However, as another blast of emerald energy flew at him and a sluggish roll was the only thing that allowed him to evade it, he realized that he had no choice. Bringing his right hand up he made a fist and combined with all the willpower he could muster slammed the fist into the floor, calling the power he'd tapped but once since his arrival in this world. With a flash of blue-white light and the crack of thunder, he felt the change come over him and when the eldritch light faded he found himself in his Thorian form with the copy of Mjolnir in hand. He had been a little unsure if the transformation would work on Asgard, especially since Thor would be aware of it rather than be taken by surprise the first time it happened. However, now that it had worked, he needed to put an end to this fight quickly before these three pulled out any more hat tricks to use on him.

Charging Barbie head on, he brought the hammer down hard on her sword and, just as he had hoped, the blade shattered leaving the young woman with naught more than a hilt in her hands. Then, with his free hand, he slammed a right hook into her jaw sending her flying across the room a little harder than he'd intended. Fortunately he was reassured as to her status when she pushed herself up into a sitting position while rubbing her apparently sore jaw. Then again, it might've been better that she'd died since he knew that the punch he'd landed was likely to leave a nasty bruise and, if the girl was one to care about her looks, she'd not appreciate the marring of her good looks. Turning to the remaining two, he saw that both the man and the woman were just coming out of the shock caused by his transformation. Being ever so careful with his throw, he launched his Uru hammer at the guy, intending on taking him out of the fight with a precise shot to the gut. However the man managed to get his mace up in time and, while the Mjolnir copy still hit, the blow only knocked the guy back a few steps. Mentally calling his hammer back to him he quickly saw the sorceress of the group building up power for a serious attack and prayed for his weapon to pick up the pace a little. As it was he caught it just as Ms. Crow Hair fired her attack and so decided to see which was stronger: his hammer or the young woman's spell.

With the force of a pro linebacker, the arcane attack hit his hammer and only taking the time to brace himself kept him from being knocked backwards by the blow. In his mind he willed his hammer to absorb the energy like Thor had done countless times in the comic books. Whether by dumb luck or by his weapon somehow sensing his wishes, the stress on his arms and legs lessened while at the same time the hammer began to thrum with building energies. Fortunately Ms. Crow Hair gave in before the copy of Mjolnir did, since the light of her attack soon faded and she herself began to look fatigued. However the look of fatigue was quickly replaced by surprise. He could only guess that she hadn't expected him to still be standing, much less have absorbed her onslaught. His attention was quickly brought back to the hammer though as the thrumming he'd felt as the sorceress' energy went in began to rise once more. Maybe it could only contain the arcane energy for a short time and needed to release it? If that was the case then he had to do so quickly but the question of how was not coming very easily to him. Firing it horizontally would only risk harming the citizen's of Asgard if one or more happened to be it the blasts path. Releasing it vertically though would put a rather large sunlight window in the palace ceiling and that would most definitely not impress Thor when he finally got here.

_Hmmm. Possibly harm innocents or get Thor mad at me. Gee! Tough choice!_ He thought as he pointed the hammer skywards and said to his enemies, "You might want to get under a table."

That was the only warning he gave them before commanding his hammer to release the energy in the direction he'd chosen and watched as it promptly obeyed. With a surge of diluted green light the energy from the sorceress' blast was sent up and through the ceiling, lasting a full four seconds before being fully spent. Lowering the copy of Mjolnir, he looked back at his enemies and hoped that the display of power would be enough to discourage them from continuing things. Unfortunately, though, he could not determine from either their faces or their stances whether or not they had any fight left in them much less a desire to fight him. Not wanting to take the chance of their anger and determination returning he decided to force an answer from them immediately.

"Have you had enough or do you want some more?" He asked them sounding like an actor in an action movie following a script.

"Nay, young warrior. This battle be done," came a voice that (not to sound clichéd) sounded like thunder from the far corner of the room.

Looking towards the source, he saw the person he had come to meet, wearing blue and gold armor with a royal red cape, Thor the ruler of Asgard. Looking up at the hole he'd made in the ceiling and then back at the God of Thunder standing before him then repeating the process twice he could think of only one response to this situation.

"So… um…. Hi?" he said tentatively wondering if chancing a dimensional leap of his own might be preferable after all.

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An Hour Later, Thor's Palace, Main Audience Chamber 

"So, thou were transformed by foul magick and thus became a version of me shown in thine legends. You battled a friend turned evil sorceress and, in a mighty clash of energy, were somehow transported here." Thor said summarizing the events that the youth had finished explaining mere moments ago, "Thou suspect a loftier hand influence your arrival here and suspect some hidden purpose to their schemes. Dost this summarize matters accurately, Alexander?"

"Yes, Lord Thor." Xander replied having shifted back into his normal form soon after Thor's arrival an hour ago, "It's the only reason I can think of why they'd set up a fake I.D for me here with a sack of clothes and a wad of cash. Either they don't think I'll be able to go home anytime soon or they sent me here for a reason. Personally, I'm not liking the fact that I don't know which it is."

"Aye, 'tis most bothersome when beings beyond ones ken doth meddle in ones life, but what plans hath thou while thou art in this reality?" Thor asked making his own opinions concerning the manipulative natures of beings higher than himself.

"Well, until that little smackdown in front of the New York Public Library, I'd planned on getting out of the city and keep a low profile." He replied remembering how well that Plan A had gone, "I don't know if anything I've read about this world in the books back home will happen here but if even half of them come true, it'd be best if I wasn't tempted to interfere."

"Thou dost believe that only trouble would arise should thou alter the path described to thee in your books?" Asked Thor with a speculative tone.

"I can't say for certain, but in all the tales I've read, knowing what's gonna happen is as much a curse as it's a blessing." He replied as he recalled all the countless movies he'd seen with time travel as a theme, "On the one hand you could prevent great loss of life and stop evil from having their way. On the other, by interfering in events, I might wind up just making things worse than if I had done nothing."

"While my mind doth see the line of logic thou hath laid out, I believe it to be no different than how every living being dost live their lives each day." Thor said with wisdom and implication in his voice, "We each waken unto the world each morn with expectations and plans for how the day will be spent. For some this will lead to ill fortune while others will be truly blessed. Thus, I advise thou not to let thy fear of what consequences thine actions might cause but merely remain true to thyself and thy heart."

"I'll think about it, Lord Thor." Xander said feeling that the Thunderer's words were definitely worth bouncing around his head for a while.

"Good. Now as to the ability thou dost possess to transform and tap into the power of Asgard, I can find no reason not to allow ye to retain it." Thor said his voice the epitome of authority, "The battle thou didst have with the trio of warriors from the academy proved to mine satisfaction that thou art of noble spirit and kind heart. However, I must insist that ye be properly trained in the use of power nearly identical to that which I possessed when I traveled Midgard. Will thou consent to this?"

"Sure. While I don't plan on transforming all that often, it'd be nice if I could fight someone without worrying about whether or not I might hurt them by accident." He replied glad that that particular worry was now dealt with.

"Indeed. I also believe that thou shouldst attend a school in Midgard for the duration of your stay in this reality." Thor declared with certainty, "If thou ist right and thou art here for some purpose, knowledge of the world will prove useful. After all, 'tis unlikely that the legends thou didst mention included every detail concerning this world."

"I guess so." He said with less than enthusiastic voice.

While he could see the Lord of Asgard's point it didn't mean he was going to look forward to going to a school to essentially learn everything from scratch. After all, he'd either be stuck in a class full of ankle biters, since he might be forced to learn everything from scratch, or he'd be put in with people his own age and be labeled the 'dumb kid' because he didn't know things that they took for granted. Neither was a very attractive possibility but, at the same time, Thor was right in that the comics weren't overly detailed when it came to the details of the MC2 universe. They more or less focused on the key points that would allow a story to be told and just let the readers fill in any holes with their own conclusions. IF he was here for a purpose, then the basic knowledge he possessed would not be anywhere near enough to make him very useful. He'd essentially be downgraded to dumb muscle if the other heroes let him fight at all and, since there was no way he was going to be just the hired help or regulated to a go-for-this person, he really had no choice but to do as the Thunderer suggested.

"Very well. Thou wilt attend the Midgard school during the week and then thou will be escorted here to Asgard by Tarene for thine training." Thor said summarizing his decision in one sentence, "Tarene, take Alexander back to Midgard. I place him in your charge during his stay in this reality."

"By your command, Lord Thor." Tarene said with a half bow and Asgardian salute, "Come, Alexander. There is much to do in order to enroll you in a high school."

_Great! More school!_ He thought as he followed the Designate out of the main audience chamber, _To think that I thought living in a world like this would be all heroic deeds and babes in spandex!_

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2 Days Later, Monday, Midtown High School, 12:00p.m 

_Well at least the food selection here is better than back at Sunnydale High. _He thought to himself as he put a burger on his tray and moved to the next section of the cafeteria selection.

It had taken most of the morning to get all the paperwork straightened out in the admissions office and then there was the whole explanation for his 'memory problems'. That was the excuse that Tara Olson, aka Tarene the Designate, gave the principal when he brought up the holes in the Xan-man aka Thomas Olson's knowledge of the world. She went into a whole thing where she said that he had been caught in an explosion in their hometown in Kansas and that he'd received a blow to his head that wiped out certain memories. Thor Girl went on to explain that while the doctors had said that he would never recover those lost memories, that he was still able to learn new things so there was no reason he couldn't lead a normal life. Naturally, talk of a person being irreparably harmed in an accident got him the pity vote from the Principal and that, accompanied by perfectly forged paperwork, pretty much sealed the deal. So here he was, enjoying the wares of the high school cafeteria before being inducted into his classes in the afternoon. According to the Principal, the afternoon classes will be more or less a meet and greet with one of his classmates assigned to him for the next three weeks to help him get up to speed. He hadn't been told who that student would be but he'd been told that the teacher for the classes would be the one to pick the lucky person out.

_Please be a pretty girl! Please be a pretty girl!_ He thought over and over again as he turned away from the line up with his lunch to find a place to sit down.

It wasn't that he was a perverted guy or anything but rather that he might actually listen and look forward to the tutoring sessions if the person he was assigned to was someone he actually wanted to spend time with. True, if she was too beautiful he'd have a hard time focusing on learning, but he figured that anyone brainy enough to be chosen as his tutor couldn't be too obsessed with her looks, so it'd be okay. Maybe he'd even get paired with May 'Mayday' Parker! True, he'd have to act casual and not let on that he knew she was actually the stunning Spider-Girl, but still her mom was considered to be **THE** babe of the Marvel Universe and May definitely inherited MJ's looks. True there were several other characters in the Spider-Girl comics that were just as good looking but most of them were either too old or were based too far away for any sparks to fly.

He was about halfway to the table he'd chosen when a loud crash rang throughout the room and, looking to a source, he saw a scene he'd first found illustrated back home in issue four of Spider-Girl. On the floor, with his lunch strewn all over the place, plates and glasses shattered, was one Jimmy Yama with the jock, Moose Mansfield, looking down on him. Apparently he had been deposited fairly early in the MC2 timeline, since this was obviously another round of Yama versus Moose and prior to the football player actually became a decent person. Jimmy was one of the brains of the school and close friend of May Parker's while Moose was just one of Brad Miller's crew. It was a clichéd geek against jock scenario with the athletes picking on the eggheads to make up for their own lack of brain cells. Oh sure, they tried to justify it, but no one who looked at it all objectively could see it as anything other than an insecure jock venting on someone smaller than him.

"**OOPS!** You really should be more careful, Yama." Moose said with false concern and politeness.

"Y-you tripped me on purpose, Moose." Yama said apparently finding it surprising that the jock actually thought he could get away with such a poor act.

"**Me?!** Why would I do such a thing?" Mansfield said with overdone shock, making it clear he had tripped the smart kid on purpose and wanted Jimmy to know he could get away with it.

"Don't play innocent with me, you misanthropic moron!" Yama yelled as he got back to his feet and got in Moose's face.

"You really should learn to relax, Yama." Mansfield said clearly not liking the fact that the geek was standing up to him, "**Stress kills!**"

_That asshole! _Xander thought as he put down his lunch on a nearby table in preparation to intervene_, I know the writers back home wanted to get across that Moose was your typical high school bully but it's completely different to see him act like a jerk in person!_

When he'd first seen who the players in the lunchtime drama were and clued into when this was in the MC2 timeline, he'd been content to just sit back and watch it play out like it had in the comics. However, as the seconds ticked by and no Principal showed up, he wondered if things would play out like he remembered. Eventually he decided to step in himself since, if the tension went any higher between the bully and the brain one of them would be visiting the school infirmary before too long. Seeing Moose's face scrunch up in anger he strode as quickly as he could over to the two pissy people and got in between them.

"Hey guys, I know you probably want to go all Rocky and Apollo on each other, but could you wait a while before you decide to K.O one another?" He asked sounding like it was all a competition or something rather than something serious, "After all I'm betting I could make a killing selling tickets for a fight between two apes beating the hell out of each other. For me, though, I like entertainment with a **lot** more **thought** put into it than just one big fight scene."

"Who the heck are you?" Moose asked obviously not happy that someone interfered with his little confrontation with Yama.

"Tom Olson, I just transferred here this morning, and I was hoping I wouldn't see an example of jock machismo for at least a day or so." Xander replied using the alias that he'd been given for his stay in this reality, "Look, I don't know what problems you guys have with each other but there's gotta be a better way for you guys to settle things than this."

"Look, this is none of your business so just stay out of it!" Yama declared obviously deciding that he had to one up Mansfield in dealing with the intruder.

"Yeah, well, being able to enjoy my lunch in peace makes it my business because you two were seriously ruining my appetite." He said deciding that his 'one-of-the-guys' routine wasn't work and thus decided on a firmer approach, "The jock I can understand, he probably doesn't have the brainpower to act his age, but you strike me as being the top of his class type, so I thought you'd know that there's more than one way to get even."

This had the effect he'd been hoping for since it redirected Moose's anger to him and actually got Yama to use his brain for a moment.

"You want to get him back, use your brain not your fists! Just ignore the idiot." He said remembering his own method for dealing with bullies, "He's only after you 'cause he knows he can get to you easily. Stop paying attention to him and he'll be the one looking like an idiot when nothing he does works the way he wants it to."

To these words Jimmy actually seemed to consider them while Moose looked like he'd finally decided that there were bigger fish to bully and that he could finish Yama off anytime he wanted. While the Xan-man wasn't looking forward to being the bully's target for the next few weeks he figured he could handle the jock better than Yama could. Besides it just wouldn't be right for him to be going to high school and not have a muscle head jock making his life miserable.

"You know Tommy, you're right!" Jimmy said as he finally smartened up and used his head, "Moose isn't even worth my time anyway. He'll still be earning minimum wage fifteen years from now whereas **I** will be earning top dollar with my **superior** intellect!"

Is there some kind of cosmic force out there that just **HAS** to cause all my plans to be FUBARed!? He thought as he saw the jock refocus his attention on Yama.

"What's the problem here, gentlemen?" Came the voice of one assistant Principal Slattery, who the universe obviously chose to replace the Principle as far as bringing things to a close went.

"Nothing significant, Mr. Slattery." Yama replied sounding like what had happened between him and Moose was now beneath his notice, "Just another idiotic attempt by Moose to look good."

"Oh really? What about you, Olson? What are you doing here?" Slattery asked obviously not believing Jimmy's response one bit.

"I just came over to offer to buy Jimmy here a new lunch since his old one is now decorating the floor." He said not wanting to get into trouble his first day.

"Hmph. Fine. You three stay away from each other for the rest of the day or you'll be joining me for detention." Slattery said before walking away with quick authoritative steps.

Deciding that he'd let Yama and Mansfield be the ones to leave, he turned around to eat his lunch. since there couldn't be much time before afternoon classes started. He had just sat down on a bench to eat when another form, most definitely a fine figured female one, sat down opposite him. Looking up he was almost completely floored by who it was but managed to keep it from showing on his face as anything more than mild surprise. Wearing blue jeans and a green sleeveless shirt was without a doubt one May 'Mayday' Parker and. if it was even possible. she was even more of a knockout in real life than how she was drawn in the comic books. So overcome was he in her beauty that he missed the first thing she said and. realizing that. he mentally shook himself back into the real world.

"Sorry, what was that?" He asked hoping he didn't look like too much of a space case by spacing out like that.

"I said 'what were you thinking talking about Moose like that'." May replied looking like she was half angry and half curious, "Picking a fight with the football team's star player isn't exactly the smartest thing to do."

"Well I was thinking that I didn't want either of them to get hurt and figured I could handle Moose better than Jimmy could. I sort of have experience at dealing with mentally challenged numbskulls." He replied trying to sound more laid back than he actually felt, "Besides, the sight of blood ruins my appetite, so I did get something out of it."

He then put on his award winning lopsided smile and waited to see what sort of reaction he'd get. His mind was hoping for something modest but amicable, like an end to Mayday's interrogation while his ego was hoping his patented smile would win her over and she'd ignore her current crush Brad Miller and settle on him. His brain, of course, found the odds of his ego's expectations being met to be somewhere between slim and none but as usual his ego was ignoring all points of view but its own.

"Well I can't say it was a smart thing to do, but it was definitely a nice thing to do for someone you don't know." May said apparently allowing him to slide by this once, "By the way, are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"Yeah, I just transferred in this morning. I had some time to kill before afternoon classes, so I thought I'd grab a bite to eat." He replied before extending his hand for a handshake, "Tom Olson and you are?"

"May Parker, though some of my friends call me Mayday." She replied with a friendly smile that was probably more out of politeness than anything else.

"So am I stuck with May or do I have to wait until I upgrade to 'friend' status to call you Mayday?" He asked trying to make this go smoother than his first meeting with Buffy that fated day.

"Well, let's just start with May for now and we'll see how things go from there okay?" She asked with a smile that definitely showed that he had a clean shot at friendship with the daughter of the original Spider-Man.

"Cool. So, what classes do you have this afternoon?" He asked deciding to see just how far lady luck was going to stay with him.

"Well its history first and then economics for me. How about you?" She asked with faint curiosity.

"Well it looks like we got the same class for history but I got English after that instead of economics." He replied after taking his class schedule out of his backpack, "Looks like you'll just have to put up with me for at least another hour, May."

"I think I can manage." She said her half smile returning with genuine amusement in her eyes this time, "Speaking of which, we'd better get going if we don't want to be late for class."

"Good idea. Mind if I walk with you or will your friend over there object?" He asked indicating one Davida Kirby, who he knew was Mayday's best bud and teammate on the school's women's basketball team.

"Nah! Davida'll probably want the 411 on you too." May replied apparently certain that Kirby wouldn't object.

"Then let's be off, fair lady, to the prison that is the classroom." He said in a mocking impersonation of a knight.

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	3. Tours and Trouble

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material that shows up in this fanfic. It belongs to the people/company that created the material. I am not making one red cent off of this but rather I am doing this merely for the amusement and enjoyment of myself and others.

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_The Apartment of Thomas Olson/Xander Harris and Tara Olson/Tarene, After School_

_The more things change the more they stay the same! Oy! _He thought to himself as he closed the door to the apartment he now shared with Tarene.

When he had sat down for the first class of the afternoon, he had hoped that things wouldn't pick up at least until the end of class but just like in the comic book, things went wonky the moment it looked like things might actually stay calm for a while. Just as he, May and Davida were about to turn towards their classroom door, the janitor, Mr. Hackmutter, exploded out of the floor in full Dragon King form. From there things pretty much went according to the script with both him and female Michael Jordan being pushed away from danger by May. Then, like a true Parker, Mayday pulled a vanishing act to be replaced by the stunning Spider-Girl, who dove right in to distract dragon dude long enough for the remaining students to make tracks. He, of course, being the idiot he was, had chosen to stay behind just in case the web slinger didn't prevail like she had in the comics back home. Thankfully the few picture hints his comic book memories provided enough info for him to keep from getting smushed but there were enough gaps between what he knew and what was actually going on that he couldn't be sure things would turn out the same.

_Good thing things did end like I remember, otherwise things could've gotten complicated._ He thought as he tossed his book bag onto the couch and headed for the kitchen.

On the plus side, at least classes got called off due to the extensive property damage but from the way he heard some of the other students talking it would only be a day or three before things went back to normal. From what he could figure, because of the sheer number of superhero- and supervillain-related destruction of property incidents, it had the side effect of the various construction companies having repairs like this down to a science. Still, it meant a few days off so he could relax and look through the textbooks he'd received after finishing the paperwork in the admissions office. After all, while he might have been a laid back guy in Sunnydale, he'd decided that this time around he'd actually study for a change and see where that got him. Besides, he had a feeling that both Tarene and Thor would be a bit miffed if he came home with nothing but D's and C minuses. More than likely they expected him to maintain **at least** a B plus average and since they were the ones providing for his needs in this dimension, the least he could do was give it a shot. Hopefully being taught by teachers who actually knew what they were talking about and with the absence of the 'new-teacher-every-month' problem, he might actually start to like going to school. Add to that the fact that the principal was **nothing** like Snyder and the next few years at Midtown High School were actually looking like they might be fun.

"You're home early Xander. Did something happen?" Asked Tarene as she walked down the hallway from her bedroom.

"Just the usual, Tarene. School janitor turned into a dragon man and got his butt handed to him by Spider-girl," he replied like he had answered this question the same way a hundred times already. "So it was pretty much what I expected for the first day of school. Next week I'm expecting the new Avengers team to fight some big bad on the football field!"

For a moment this stunned Thor Girl, since she probably didn't know him well enough to know that he was attempting to make a funny by making superhero battles and unscheduled smackdowns on school property sound normal. Fortunately she was smart enough to catch on about three seconds latter and giggled a bit at his comment, thus thwarting the stereotype that blondes were the least intelligent sort of women.

"Yes, well, it is actually good that you have the day off because I just received word from Thor that your admittance into the Asgard Academy of Warriors went through quicker than expected." Tara said before transforming into Thor Girl before his eyes, "He suggested that I take thee on a tour of the Academy grounds so that thou shalt not get lost between classes."

"Wait! Academy? I thought that I'd be getting training from, say, you or perhaps Thor since you two have powers almost exactly like mine." Xander said a little surprised at this deviation from his expectations.

"Hahahahaa! Whilst I am sure that Lord Thor wouldst prefer teaching thou the nature of thine abilities, to some of his duties as Lord of Asgard he must put his people first." Thor Girl said with a light chuckle at his surprise, "As for myself, I will be the one to teach thee in the use of thine Thunderer abilities. Lord Thor believed that you could benefit from learning a broader sampling of subjects, thus he spoke with the Headmaster of the Academy and had thee admitted."

_Figures. Agree to the sample and get the buffet! _He thought to himself with a mental groan at the idea of going to school in both worlds.

"Won't things get a little messed up with me going to two schools at once?" He asked hoping to use logic to put things back to his expectations had put them, "I mean, call me crazy, but don't most places of learning want a perfect attendance record out of their students? After all, I might not be an ordinary guy any more but even I need sleep every once and awhile."

"Think ye that Lord Thor wouldst not take that into consideration? He hath made special exceptions with the Headmaster in order to allow thee time for rest, classes on Midgard and time for thyself." Tarene stated as she gained the upper hand in the argument, "While this will require that thine classes in Asgard be more vigorous than normal, I do not believe that it wilst be beyond thy abilities to handle. Shall we go?"

"Would it matter if I answered 'nay'?" He asked rhetorically as he got to his feet and walked to her side.

"Mayhap someday, but not today." She replied with an amused grin before she whirled her enchanted hammer above her head and carried them across the dimensional divide to Asgard, leaving only an empty apartment in their wake.

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_**Asgard, Warrior's Academy, Main Courtyard, **_

_**Mid-Morning (Asgard time of course)**_

With some displacement of air and a crack of thunder, the funnel of energy that carried them from Midgard to Asgard faded away to reveal a medieval setting that while on par with several Robin Hood movies had an otherworldly element to it. Not surprising, since he already knew where they were, but it was still a little awe inspiring to know that he was now in the realm of the Norse gods. Still, he figured that eventually the feeling would fade after a certain number of weeks visiting this realm but for now it was exciting. Looking around the immediate area he found that he and Tarene were not alone in the courtyard. Standing not ten feet from them was, in Xander's opinion, the personification of what an aged warrior should look like. Standing a few inches taller with a balding head and a stern look on his face was someone he'd call an aged Sean Connery dressed in Norse warrior clothes and a sword on his right hip.

"Greetings, Folkvar! Have we kept thou waiting long?" Tarene asked as she began to walk over to the seasoned warrior.

"Nay, Designate! I arrived but a moment ago so that I could see the young man that Thor would have admitted into my Academy." Replied the man now identified as Folkvar, but also implied to be the Headmaster of the Academy, "Is this he?"

"Aye. Allow me to introduce Alexander Harris of Midgard." Tarene replied to the inquiry gesturing in his direction.

"So this be the boy who nearly bested three of my most promising students." Folkvar stated before looking at the Xan-man like he was taking in every little detail, "Hmmmmm. T'would appear that I must impress upon those three the peril of basing an enemy's skill upon their looks. Tell me boy, what training have ye had in the art of combat?"

Taking a moment to formulate an answer he replied "I have had no training officially, sir, but for a year and a half prior to my coming to this world I lived in a town that attracted much evil. Along with my friends, we did our best to defeat what evil came our way so most of what I know about fighting came from that."

"No official training? Then either thee be possessed of natural talent or my favored pupils need also a lecture in curbing one's arrogance." Folkvar said with a look that said Blondie, Ms. Raven and Carrot Top were in for a serious lecture, "Whatever the case, I deem thee worthy to be instructed in my Academy for the time being. Should thee prove that 'twas natural talent that allowed thee to match wits with my students, you will be assured the very best of training. However, should the opposite prove true, thou will most likely regret thy choice to learn here. Now, come and I will show thee around the Academy grounds."

For the next two hours straight the Headmaster of the Academy showed him as much of the school grounds as possible with special emphasis on where he could expect to spend the most time in. First came the classrooms inside of the institution's buildings, where warriors were taught strategy and the history of war. Next came the medicines, where he watched a class being taught not only of the various poisons they might encounter but also how to create the antidotes. It was a bit of a surprise to him because nowhere in the comic books he'd read did they ever show this part of how to be a warrior. However he knew, better than most considering his lack of official warrior training, that there was more to winning a battle than just being able to swing a sword correctly. Strategy was needed and knowing something about what you were fighting never hurt either. The writers of the comic books probably figured that showing any more than the bare minimum of classroom scenes would risk them losing the attention of their readers. Still, a class in an Asgard school couldn't be **that** different from a class in Midtown High School, right?

Eventually, though, they left the buildings and proceeded to walk across the various outside training grounds, ranging from the archery ranges to sparring circles. There were a few scattered groups of students here and there practicing with their chosen weapon but he barely paid them any mind. It wasn't that he didn't find what they were doing interesting but rather because of the two people that were sparring in one of the sparring circles reserved for sword wielders. One, while looking considerably different from how he was drawn in the comics, could easily be identified as Fandral the Dashing, who was known by all to be a member of the famous warrior trio known as The Warrior Three. From what the only Harris child could remember the blonde man was something of a ladies man but also quite skilled with a sword. That last bit was to be expected since anyone with a reputation like his had to be pretty damn good at what he did or have a miracle worker for a public relations person. The other person was someone he had hoped he wouldn't run into for at least a month, since given what happened between them earlier he figured that it would take that long for her temper to cool down. It was Ms. Blondie from the three on one duel in Thor's audience hall, the one he tore the shirt off of by accident, and while she had not seen him yet, both Tarene and Folkvar were headed in their direction.

_SO not of the good!_ He thought as his imagination managed to come up with several possible ways things could get ugly.

Both Fandral and the blonde bombshell were sparring with one another and while it might have looked like a stalemate to the untrained eye, he had a feeling that the older man was holding back. Back and forth the sparring match went until the Dashing One spotted the approaching trio of people that was he, Tarene and Folkvar and brought the match to a halt. It was then, of course, that Ms. Blondie started looking around to determine why her opponent had suddenly stopped fighting. Once she laid eyes on him, though, he could see her anger building within her and probably the only reason why she hadn't started swinging that sword at him was the presence of the others.

"Ah Folkvar! How fair thee this day?" Fandral asked with a voice that definitely sounded like what one would expect from a swashbuckling hero type.

"Well enough, Fandral! I was just showing the Academy's newest student about the grounds." Folkvar replied before pointing directly at the Xan-man, "Allow me to introduce to thee Alexander Harris of Midgard. He hath been granted the honor by Lord Thor to attend here and learn the ways of the warrior."

"So this be the mortal that mine daughter Tyra hath been speaking of so much lately!" Fandral stated with a tone of amusement, "Thou hast most greatly offended my daughter Alexander, for not an hour passes that she hath not sworn retribution against thee. Might thou tell me what thou didst do to anger her so? I hath tried to obtain an answer from her myself, but she refuses to speak of the fight in any true detail."

"Father!!" Tyra exclaimed in a way universal for daughters to express their outrage at a parent threatening to expose an embarrassing secret to strangers and friends alike.

_She's Fandral's **daughter**!_ Xander thought as he looked between the two family members and began noticing certain similarities, _**No WAY** am I telling him what happened!_

"I am sorry, Fandral, but for the sake of my continued good health, I'm afraid I'm gonna keep my mouth shut about that little detail." He replied to the legendary warrior's question, "Still, it's great to meet one of the Warrior's Three in person."

"Oh! So word of the adventures of Hogun, Volstagg and myself have become known even among the young of Midgard?" Fandral asked rhetorically before chuckling, "Then mayhap after thou wouldst be interested in sparring with me so that I might get your measure. What say thee?"

"Sure! Though I doubt I'll last very long against a warrior of your skill." He replied while thinking, _ANYthing to distract him from that fight with his daughter!_

"If thou didst manage to endure in a match against mine daughter, Alexander, I have no doubt thou shalt do fine." Fandral said before turning to his daughter, "Allow the young man to borrow thy sword, Tyra, and watch the battle. Mayhap thou might discover a flaw in his movements that thou couldst use against him in future matches."

"Very well, father." Tyra said as she walked over to him and passed him her sword, "Fight well, Alexander, for I wish to find this duel most informative."

_Hoo boy! That's one rematch I am **definitely** not looking forward to!_ He thought as he gripped the sword and tried to get a feel for its weight as well as balance.

Once he was sure he had a good enough understanding of the weapon, he stepped into the sparring circle and raised his sword into what he hoped was a competent ready position. He was not given time to make sure of that because no sooner did he **appear** ready than Fandral lunged in at him with a thrust towards his chest. With a little too much force, he parried the thrust to the left but this only bought him a second since, two seconds later, the member of the Warriors Three twisted the sword into a slash. Hopping backwards he barely managed to keep himself from needing a good tailor for his shirt but used the opportunity to move in close. It had been his plan to keep things in close, to keep the more experience warrior from managing anything too strong since the blonde guy would have a harder time building up any momentum. Unfortunately, he underestimated Fandral's speed and strength because he barely got halfway towards the Asgardian warrior before he was forced to block a reverse slash that sent him back a couple of steps.

"So mine initial impression of thee was correct, Alexander! While thou dost not think highly of thy skills as a warrior, thou dost possess the raw talent of a warrior born!" Fandral said with a smile that implied he was enjoying himself greatly, "In fact, thou dost remind me of myself when first I entered these revered halls! Mayhap you are destined for greatness as well both on the battlefield and in the taverns as well!"

This last comment caught him off guard since it didn't take a genius to interpret what the swashbuckling warrior was implying. Fandral's skill as a warrior was often compared to his skill in wooing the ladies, even though to the Xan-man's knowledge no lady ever managed to keep the goateed man's interest for long. To think that this more experienced man thought that he had the potential to become just as good with the ladies one day was something his mind was stunned to hear. Whether Fandral intended to provoke this reaction or not, he most certainly took advantage of it with a jarring blow that almost knocked the sword out of the founding Scooby gang member's hand. Shaking himself mentally to get out of the mind freeze the image of him and many beautiful women had caused, he pushed himself to minimize any inertia his opponent had gained. It was all for naught, though, since no matter what hastily-created move or strategy he came up with off the top of his head, the battle was clearing going in favor of the member of the Warrior's Three. In just under a minute the battle was over with his sword gone, him sitting on his butt and Fandral's sword hovering above his throat.

"Well done, Alexander! Whilst the outcome of our match was never in doubt, thou didst well to endure as long as thou did under the circumstances." Fandral declared while helping the defeated Scooby to his feet, "I have no doubt that learning from the instructors at this Academy will serve thee well and that once thou finishes training, you shalt have few equals in battle."

"Hmph! T'was luck and your restraint that allowed Alexander to endure, father." Tyra stated with a snort of contempt, "If the mortal didst fight a true battle, he would be slain within moments!"

"That is why he shalt be attending classes alongside ye, my daughter." Fandral stated calmly although there was a chastising look in his eyes, "To learn how to improve and become a better warrior than he is now. I remember how naught two seasons ago thou fared little better against a certain classmate of yours."

This did little to improve the mood on Tyra's face but it did at least cause her to shut up and keep any more snide comments to herself. Still, anything was better than hearing her pull a Queen C on him and attempt to cut his self-confidence to shreds.

"If thou art quite finished, noble Fandral, I believe Tarene and I shouldst continue with the tour of the Academy grounds." Folkvar said with a tone that implied he didn't approve of the swashbuckler's manner.

"Of course, Folkvar! Train hard and live well, Alexander." Fandral said as he began to walk off with Tyra, "I look forward to testing myself against thee again."

_Yeah! Knowing my luck it'll happen all too soon! _He thought as he suspected that he had just picked up a mentor without intending to do so.

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_A Nearby Tower Window, Same Time_

_So that is the one the people are calling Thor's heir._ She thought while looking down at the young mortal being led away by the Designate and Folkvar, _If only they knew what I know now!_

It had been spoken of much in the hallways and taverns of Asgard that, not two days before, a mortal had been escorted to the audience hall of the Lord of Asgard himself. While than in of itself was not strange, Thor's fondness for mortals being well-known, the fact that less than a day later the Thunderer had taken steps to get the young man admitted to the Warrior's academy did raise a few eyebrows. Whispers flew about and rumors quickly followed, with many curious about the son of Midgard's origins and his future. One rumor claimed the boy was a younger version of Thor from another dimension, wherein events played out differently than they had in this world. Another proposed that Alexander was the offspring of Thor and one of the mortal heroes known as the Avengers. From one extreme to another and all in between, the people of Asgard did speculate but none did more than that.

Except for her that is.

She had been nearby when Thor had pitted the young man against three students from the Academy and her senses, tuned by her years of practice in sorcery, had felt the boy's power. While certainly unique, as is always the case with every person being one of a kind, she could **feel** the essence of the power and found it strangely similar to the Thunderer's own power. It was more primal and did not possess the refinement of the Lord of Asgard, but there was no mistaking the feel of it. Add to that the account of the test that she had been told and it was safe to say that her interest was piqued. It was only four hours ago that she had received word that the Designate would be arriving soon with the boy to give him a tour of the Academy. With all the speed possible, without looking suspicious, she traveled to the Academy grounds to see for herself if this young man was worthy of such a wellspring of rumors. Up until they had reached the training grounds outside, she had been significantly disappointed and saw nothing about Alexander that would warrant any further observation.

That all changed when the trio encountered that fool Fandral and his daughter Tyra on the Academy training grounds a short time ago. The first thing that had piqued her interest was the well-concealed emotions she detected in Tyra that were almost the complete opposite of what the young woman wore on her face. It was quite amusing to see the girl try and look like she hated in the boy when, in fact, she likely felt some attraction to the young man. It wasn't quite love just yet, and there was a cloud of lust present from what she could discern of the young woman's body language, but at the moment it was not much more than a 'schoolgirl crush' as she believed the mortals called it. Nevertheless, she saw this as something of an opportunity for her own daughter since her raven-haired offspring made no secret of the fact that she despised the daughter of Fandral and Brunnhilda. While young Signe had not shown so much as a sliver of interest in the boy, more like true anger given how he had befuddled her during the contest in the audience hall, it would not take much for her to pretend otherwise when told of Tyra's true feelings. After all, it would be a truly vicious victory over Fandral's daughter if Signe succeeded in winning young man's heart, especially if done in the correct manner. Of course her daughter would likely discard the boy once she had achieved that victory but depending on how the young man developed, it might be possible to enlighten the young woman to the advantages of keeping him.

_After all, it could be useful to have a Thunderer in the family. _Thought Amora the Enchantress before she teleported herself back to her private study.

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_A Few Days Later, Midtown High School, Morning_

"And the man takes a **FATAL SHOT** to the heart!" Came the caveman bellow of one Moose Mansfield being his usual 'friendly' self, "Nice going Yama! I haven't seen a brush-off that **cold** since the **ice follies** left town."

_Are those two at it again!? _Xander thought as he turned the corner to see Jimmy Yama and Moose squaring off once more, _It's getting to be a daily thing trying to pry the two of them apart!_

"I'm glad I amuse you, Moose—" Yama said before turning around to face the bully, "—but keep your snide comments to yourself! I've taken enough abuse from you."

"You want to shut my mouth?" Mansfield asked in a challenging manner, "Just name the time and place."

_So do I go place peacekeeper again or do I just let those two idiots duke it out and get it over with?_ He thought to himself as he took in the scene before him.

In the end he decided that it would be best to just let them get it over with. The only way that Moose would stop harassing Yama would be if he did it willingly for some reason, whether it was because Jimmy did something to earn the brute's respect or because the ape just got tired of such an easy target and chose to move on. He could interfere all he wanted, but it wouldn't change the feelings inside both teenagers because only they could do that. The best he could hope for was that they got it over with quick and didn't drag things out because if that happened someone was going to get hurt and hurt badly.

The rest of the day, things proceeded relatively smoothly with classes going on as classes usually do and while he did hear a rumor that the two monkey brains were planning on fighting some time today, he hadn't heard when. It was, however, causing quite a stir among the students with some of them treating it like a high profile prize fight at Caesar's Palace. He wouldn't be surprised if some of the more industrious students attempted to sell tickets or get betting pool going on who was going to win the fight. Just about everyone would bet on Moose since he was the stronger of the two and had more experience bashing things than Yama. In a way, Jimmy was kind of like he was back in Sunnydale High School in that while they could mouth off to some of the jocks they didn't possess the strength physically to do anything about getting picked on. The only difference being that Yama was pretty much a genius, while he had only barely managed to skate by with passing marks on his report card. He had hoped that the boy genius would be smart enough to use that intellect to his advantage and think his way out of a fight rather than use his fists. Now that he thought about it, though, he figured it was probably hardwired into the male genome that when two men clash, it would always wind up degenerating into a fight, eventually.

It wasn't until after school that he got his first real hint as to when the fight might be when he saw May Parker running full tilt out of the school. Given that she was wearing her green sweats with something black sticking out of her pocket, he immediately remembered this issue of Spider-Girl and knew what would happen in the next hour or so. May would slip on a ski mask and bounce rooftop to rooftop to try and to make it to the park where the fight was being held in order to step in and stop it. However, she would be intercepted by Darkdevil and given a smart assed lecture about her new look and her commitment to being a super hero. The Daredevil fake would pretend to be beaten in order to set up Mayday for a hero vs. hero fight between her and the man called Nova. This would, of course, delay May considerably allowing the fight between Yama and Mansfield to occur where Jimmy would punch Moose in the throat by accident. This would cause the jock to choke and be rushed to a hospital in an ambulance where May would hook up with her friends later. In the end a lesson would be learned and the conflict would come to an end.

At least, that was how it had ended in the comic books.

However, like Thor had pointed out to him when they had talked, there was no guarantee that things would turn out like they had in the comic books. For all he knew, this time Moose might actually die because the ambulance was a few minutes late getting to the park to pick him up. That would mess things up big time and lay a huge guilt trip on May, since she was determined to play peacekeeper, and failure was not an option as far as she was concerned. With that in mind, he made a split second decision that would probably earn him a lecture from Tarene when he got home and possibly worse, depending on whether or not he botched this. Looking around he quickly looked for an isolated spot where he wouldn't be spotted and, once he found the sort of alleyway he was looking for, he wasted no time zipping into it. With one final look around to make sure the chances of him being watched almost non-existent, he made a fist with his right hand and slammed it into the ground triggering his transformation. With a flash of blue light and a crack of thunder Xander Harris vanished and in his place stood the Xan-man in his hero personae that he dubbed Thorian.

Reaching into the back of his mind where the enduring memories from his time as Thor resided, he quickly located the data on how the Avenger had been able to fly or at the very least cross great distances in a single bound. Whirling his copy of Mjolnir over his head, he waited until he felt he had built up sufficient momentum before hurling the hammer in the direction he wanted to go while holding onto the loop of leather at the end. Like a rocket, he shot skyward, eventually passing over the rooftops of skyscrapers, and headed in the direction he'd last seen May heading towards. True, there were a number of ways to get to the park from the school but given the once and future web stunner's preferred method of speedy travel and the locations of buildings necessary for that method, he had a pretty good idea of where to find her. Mentally willing Mjolnir to change course, he found it took a Herculean effort to force the enchanted weapon to go where he wanted it to go. It was almost as if he weapon were pitting its will against his, with him only barely managing to come out on top. He knew it'd get easier the more he practiced with it and the training he'd get in Asgard would be a big help too, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. Right now he had to focus on getting to May so he could intercept Nova and allow May to proceed to the park and keep anything permanent or potentially guilt-inspiring from happening.

It took him a while, but eventually he managed to spot her and it turned out to be just in the nick of time since not only was Darkdevil down but Nova was already in attack mode, streaking towards Mayday's position.

_Gotta get his attention!_ He thought and, after a moment's hesitation, he grabbed ahold of Mjolnir's handle and willed the weapon to fire a bolt of energy in Nova's path.

With a bit more oomph than he had intended, he got his wish and a blast of energy the color of neon blue lightning shot across the space between him and the spot where he'd been aiming. Not wanting to chance something bad happening with a continuous blast, he clamped down on the energy almost immediately after it fired, causing the beam to fall to pieces almost immediately. Fortunately for him, the momentary blast was all that was needed since it caused Nova to veer upwards to avoid the blast. Using Mjolnir to guide him to the rooftop where Spider-Girl was looking up in confusion, he knew he would have to urge her to continue on to the park while he dealt with these two numbskulls.

"Be thee on thy way milady! I, Thorian, will ensure that these two do not follow thee any more." He said putting his Thor impersonator personae back on.

"S-sure! Thanks, goldilocks!" She said before turning and continuing her bouncing path from rooftop to rooftop towards the park.

He knew that he might be making a mistake, Yama's accidental injuring of Moose had been a big element in Mayday putting her webs on again, but with a person's life on the line he couldn't see himself doing anything else. Putting himself within striking distance of Darkdevil but far enough away that the fire demon hero wouldn't be pressured into just teleporting away, he prepared himself for Nova. At the moment he wasn't interested in fighting the guy, but he hoped that with the energy blast he'd just managed and the fact that he **looked** like a bigger threat than an unknown masked woman in sweats would make Nova zero in on him rather than May.

"I don't know where you came from, pal, but you picked the wrong hero to tangle with!" Nova said as he flew towards the Xan-man on a collision course, "Let's see if you're as tough as the real Thor!"

Bracing his feet against the rooftop he was on he prepared to take the full brunt of the hero's tackle head on, hoping that his own super strength was enough to match the power of Nova. Crossing his arms in front of him, he waited for the impact of two powerful forces colliding and didn't have long to wait since, less than three seconds later, something slammed into him BIG TIME! Putting all his will into moving in the opposite direction that Nova was flying in, he could feel the roof beginning to break up under the strain of the force being forced on it. While he was fairly certain that his own strength could hold Nova at bay without firm footing, which the roof was not capable of providing, he would be flying backwards any second now. That left him with few options and none of them were likely to turn out very well, given his lack of experience, but then again that was pretty much par for the course with him. So with a split second decision made, he tried to execute a passable palm thrust to Nova's chest at roughly one third of what he believed his maximum strength to be. Then intention was to knock the guy back a couple of feet at the very least, and at the very most he was hoping that it would knock the superhero high enough into the air that it would buy him enough time to get scarce.

What he got, though, served to remind him that he shouldn't experiment with his powers without supervision.

The reason for that being the fact that while his blow did knock Nova through the air a fair distance, his aim sucked big time since the golden helmet wearing hero crashed through a few buildings along the way.

_I hope those people have insurance!_ He thought to himself before leaping down into an alleyway between the building he was standing on and another.

Doing a less than thorough quick look around, he quickly slammed the butt of his hammer down onto the ground and changed back into plain old Xander Harris a.k.a Thomas Olson. Taking a second, more thorough, look about the area he tried to discern whether or not anyone had spotted him transforming and breathed a sigh of relief when he could see no one. Casually walking out of the alleyway and onto the main sidewalk, he hoped that his little bit of interference had bought Spider-girl the time she needed to stop the Yama/Moose fight in the park. With that mistake prevented, it would keep Moose from getting taken to the hospital with an injured throat and, hopefully, buy Mayday some space so she could work on a good way of warming her dad up to the idea of her being Spider-Girl. In the comic books, the fact that Moose wound up in the hospital because she didn't get there in time was a big factor in May committing herself to donning the webs again. While her arriving in time to break up the fight before it went too far might have made the return of Spider-girl take a little longer, it's probably for the best. Given who her parents were and her own sense of responsibility, it was a safe bet in his opinion that something would come along to motivate her into becoming the wall crawler again.

"Getting in a little early practice, I see." Came a voice he hoped he wouldn't hear until he had time to come up with a suitable excuse, "Do you mind telling me why you thought it was necessary to transform and do battle with Nova?"

Turning to his left, he was less than thrilled to find one Tara Olson a.k.a Tarene a.k.a Thor Girl leaning up against a lamp post with her arms crossed and a distinctly displeased look on her face.

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	4. A Doorway Opened

Asgard, A Deserted Field, Two and a Half Weeks Later 

"R-remind me… again… why I have to lift this much as plain old me?" Xander asked as forced his arms to execute another push up.

Now push-ups by themselves aren't exactly nice to begin with and were the source of much soreness in gym class back in Sunnydale. Not that they've gotten much better at Midtown High School gym class, but neither Earth-based versions had a slab of concrete strapped to his back the entire time. It wasn't really thick or anything, nothing like a block of concrete the size of a crate, but still enough to almost triple the effort required just to perform **one** push-up. Tarene had him, here in the middle of this field, shooting for **fifty** push-ups with this mass of concrete on his back and would not back down from that number no matter what he said. Looking for another way to make the objective more 'feasible' in his mind, he could only come up with one and that was the one he was employing now. After all, she had stated at the beginning that she would be the one to teach him how to use his Thor powers and that the rest would be handled by the Warrior Academy of Asgard. Therefore, by his logic, he should be doing these push-ups in his Thorian form rather than in his normal form of Thomas Olson aka Xander Harris. He had high hopes that this bit of logic would be enough to get Thor Girl to let him transform before continuing with the training regime.

"Thou art doing these push-ups in order to increase thy natural strength so that thou might better manage against thy fellow students at the Academy. While thou didst well against Tyra and her comrades in Lord Thor's audience chamber and against Fandral at the Academy, I believe thou couldst have done better were thou in better shape." The Designate replied from her place atop a nearby boulder with a Midgard newspaper in hand, "Those born in Asgard are naturally superior to thy fellows on Midgard and, as such, are stronger, faster and more agile as a result. In order to get the most out of thine training, we must attempt to bring you as close to their level as we can. Besides, I dost also believe that by increasing thy natural strength, we canst increase the strength of thy transformed form as well."

"You mean you think that my transformation just multiplies my own strength rather than just bringing it up to a set level?" He asked, not having considered that possibility before.

"It is a possibility, Alexander, and one that bears looking into." Tarene replied without looking up from her newspaper.

"Well… at the moment…. It looks like… **I'm** the only one… looking into it." He said between push-ups with a bit of irritation in his voice, "What's with you and that newspaper anyway?"

"While it is true that I no longer serve as a defender of Midgard to the same degree as I once did, I still attempt to stay informed on matters of importance there. Often problems that plague Midgard doth become problems for Asgard if left to themselves for too long." Tarene replied before folding the paper in half in order to better read some article, "Also as Lord Thor is unable to come to the aid of the people of Midgard due to his duties as ruler of Asgard, he doth often send me in his place."

"I see your point. Forewarned is forearmed and all—" was about as far as he got with his words because at that moment his eyes fell upon a picture and a story on the newspaper being held by Tarene.

The picture showed the hero known as Mainframe, one of the new Avengers, fighting what looked like a green armored figure with a similar look. Next to the picture was the headline: Avenger defeats emerald villain Ion Man. With that picture and that headline feelings of shock and concern welled up within him because if he remembered his MC2 history right then something big was about to go down for the Avengers. Knocking off the concrete on his back and getting to his feet, he strode quickly over to where Tarene was now looking at him and crouched down to take a better look at the article that had caught his eye. Reading over the article, he became more convinced than ever that the next generation of Avengers were more than likely days away from embarking on a mission that would not only lead to the death of one of their own but would, story-wise, regulate the team to mere cameo appearances rather than their own title. It was also an event that had the part of him that was Thor desire to become involved if only to silence the evil counterpart in that world for good.

"What is it Alexander?" Tarene asked, now finding the need to voice her confusion, "What has so disturbed thy mind that thou wouldst abandon thy exercise?"

"This article, Tarene. Is this today's newspaper on Midgard or an older one?" He asked since the date wasn't posted on the side he was looking at right then.

"'Tis yesterday's newspaper." She replied, obviously wanting her questions answered a bit more fully.

"Then if I'm right the new roster of Avengers are going to need some backup in the near future." He said before explaining the entire series events that he believed would follow Mainframe's fight with Ion Man, "Look, I know that I'm still pretty much a newbie and that both you and Thor probably think I'm at least a year away from being ready to patrol Midgard but…"

"…But this is one battle thou dost wish to take part in, if only to ensure that the Avenger known as the Crimson Curse doth survive the coming battle." Tarene said, finishing the thought he had been giving voice to, "I understand thy desire and whilst I agree that thou art still too inexperienced to undertake such a task alone, I believe that if I promise to accompany thee on this mission if Lord Thor may permit it."

"Huh? Aren't you supposed to be saying how it is too dangerous and all but saying 'thou shalt not go' right about now?" He asked, more than a little surprised that someone in authority would support charging into a dangerous situation like an impulsive teenager, "I mean we're basically going to help the Avengers battle an entire planet of evil counterparts that managed to kill off many of the original Avengers and send the rest home in tatters."

"If the threat to Midgard is as dire as thou dost describe it to be, then it be the duty of all of that world's defenders to rise to meet it. Besides, it will prove to be an excellent opportunity to see how well thou hath learned thy lessons and how well thou canst use them under true battle conditions." Thor Girl explained as took hold of her enchanted hammer and removed it from its place on her belt, "So long as I am there, I believe that the danger to thee should be sufficiently diminished to make Lord Thor agreeable to this course of action. Shall we go?"

"Yes." He said with a smile that spoke of both happiness that he'd get a break from his training and a chance to actually **do** something heroic.

"Then let us be off!" Tarene said and, with a whirling of her hammer and a crack of thunder, they left the field where he had been training leaving naught but a slab of concrete to mark that they had been there in the first place.

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Asgard, Thor's Palace, Main Audience Chamber, An Hour Later 

"So thou dost desire to go to the new Avengers' aid in combating the forces of the dark mirror world and mayhap save one of their members whom you believe is fated to perish in that battle?" Thor asked with an unknown look in his eyes, "What of thy concern that interfering in the sequence of events told in thine stories might bring about even greater calamity?"

"I've kinda already stepped over that line Lord Thor. Almost three weeks ago I prevented the heroes Darkdevil and Nova from delaying Spider-girl from going to the aid of her friends. While I haven't seen any real change in how things went in the tales from my world, it made me reconsider your words about how people live from day to day." He replied, being as honest and forthright as he could with the ruler of Asgard, "While I'm still worried that I might just make things worse, I can't stand by and let tragedy and misery occur without doing something to prevent it. To do so would make me unworthy of this power I now possess."

"Well said, young Alexander! Spoken like a true warrior of Asgard!" Thor declared with some pride and a satisfied smile, "I give thee and Tarene mine permission to go to the aid of this new team of Avengers. Fight by their side and put an end to the evil that doth threaten this world. Most of all thou must teach that villainous copy of mineself the price for daring to disgrace Asgard in such a manner!"

"As you have ordered, so shall it be, Lord Thor." He stated as formally and properly as he could while bowing to the ruler of Asgard.

With that he and Tarene were dismissed from the audience chamber and free to do as they would before heading to the Avengers mansion. Thor Girl had been a little surprised when he had said he wanted to stop by the local sorcereress' school but nodded in approval when he had explained why he wanted to go there. He wanted to go there in order to acquire some form of magic that might unravel and destroy the Universal Cube that the alternate universe Victor Von Doom intended to use to invade other worlds. In the comics back home it was the Crimson Curse's powers that brought about the end of the Cube at the cost of her own life, as well as the life of the Dr. Doom from that reality. Already being against sacrificing anyone's life, even Doom's, to destroy the unnatural device it was his primary plan to use his Mjolnir's power over energy to unravel the cube himself. If needed, he even proposed that Tarene help him by adding the power of her own hammer to the task of destroying the cube. While he was confident in this course of action he, as usual, wanted to have a back up plan ready just in case circumstances kept him from following through with it. It was his hope that one of the magic users at the School of the Arcane would have something that'd meet his needs.

Ten minutes of walking later they were at the front steps of the school and, as they began to walk up towards the door, it opened to reveal the headmistress of the school and someone he'd hoped to be able to avoid for as long as possible. Standing there looking like someone from the cover of MAXIM, or Playboy for that matter, was the Enchantress Amora and she had a look in her eyes he did **not** like. While not a complete devotee to the Thor comics, he knew that Amora's skills at seduction were top notch, with her physical appearance contributing greatly to those skills. While it was true that few of the mainstream heroes in the Marvel Comics back home ever fell for her wiles permanently, he wasn't arrogant enough to believe his willpower was in that league. After all, he was the guy who completely lost control of his speech center the moment he first laid eyes on Buffy Anne Summers and actually said 'can I have you'. While the blonde Slayer was definitely a hottie, she didn't have the… **ahem**… 'build' that Amora did, nor the skill at seducing men. So, all in all, if Amora decided to make him into one of her pet projects, he was going to be seriously hard pressed not to make an ass of himself or turning himself into her newest lapdog.

"Welcome Designate and you, young Alexander. To what do I owe this visit to my school?" Amora said in a way that could be misinterpreted as the epitome of politeness by most but those who knew the woman could see the scheming beneath take form.

"We came, Enchantress, because Tarene and I are about to go on a mission of sorts and require a bit of arcane assistance in order to accomplish it." He replied trying to keep his mind on the mission and not Amora's fine figure.

"Of course, of course, come in and tell me about the nature of your mission." Amora said 'graciously' as she stepped aside and gestured to the open door to the school, "I'm sure we can find **something** to suit your **needs**."

Walking in, he could see that for the most part the school was a series of open spaces with just about every magic and arcane prop from the movies being present in one form or another. He thought he even saw a monkey hand in a glass jar along the way, but remembering what that kind of mystical item did he just looked away and did his best to forget. After all, what was the point of having five wishes if the curse on the hand made sure that each and every wish turned out bad somehow? Eventually they reached what he presumed was the Enchantress' own personal laboratory or whatever the sorceress equivalent is called.

"Now what is the threat that Lord Thor has dispatched you to stop? What do you require in order to defeat it?" Amora asked after taking her place behind the largest table in the room laden with magic knick-knacks.

"The enemy we're facing lives in an alternate reality where events took a different turn than they did here. Using a combination of science and sorcery, he has created what he calls a Universal Cube with which he intends to invade other realities with a large army." He explained, trying to give all the important details without doing anything to dangle a carrot in front of her ambitious nature, "We came here to find out if you had anything here that could be used to destroy such a device with minimal loss of life. No loss, if at all possible. We also need it immediately because the information we have suggests that the invasion is set to begin in the next few days."

"Well, you certainly know exactly what you want. That is a good characteristic for a warrior to have." She said with approval in her tone, "To sum up your requirements: you need something that will destroy an enemy's means of creating a dimensional doorway for his army. Yes?"

"That's correct." He replied, not wanting to confuse things by elaborating any further.

"I believe I might have something to suit your needs here. As headmistress of this school of sorcery it is my business to be well versed in matters arcane as well as create a means of countering threats of that nature." The Enchantress said as she began to look about the shelves of books and baubles, "I believe I have something that should suffice in rendering any mortal-invented talisman useless. It may require additional power in order to complete its task, but I'm sure that yours will be more than **sufficient**."

Doing his best to ignore any double meaning her words might or might not have contained, he kept his eyes anywhere but at her back since he knew that would only make things more difficult. Instead he looked about the laboratory to see what was there and if there was anything he might recognize from his comic books back home. He did this for several minutes, he even went over a few spots twice, just to stall for time so he wouldn't notice how the way the Enchantress was bent over showed off her butt. Eventually, though, she appeared to find what she was looking for and stood back up fully.

"Here we are. It is called the Orb of the Abyss." Amora said as she held up a black crystalline orb out for him to see, "I created it over five years ago as a countermeasure for The Destroyer. Simply will the Orb to activate and it will draw that which you picture in your mind's eye into it to be contained forever more. However the more powerful the force you wish to contain within the Orb, the more difficult it shall be to draw it in. To overcome this potent enemy you need only add your own power to the Orb's strength and your victory will be assured. Is this sufficient?"

"Yes. Thank you Enchantress." He said holding out his hand to accept the Orb.

"No need to be so formal Alexander. You are an honored guest of Lord Thor's so please feel free to call me Amora." The Enchantress said with a smile that no doubt had caused many men to think naughty thoughts in the past and thus become snared in her web of manipulation.

"Um… okay… Well we should probably get going." He said as he began to walk as smoothly as he could to the front doors of the sorcery school, "See you later… Amora."

With that he made for the front door of the school as quickly as he could without looking like something was wrong with him. Tarene was only a little ways behind him and judging from the look on her face, she was all too aware of what the Enchantress had been up to and didn't like it one bit.

"Let us depart for Midgard anon Alexander. T'would seem that there is a foul **stench** in the air." Tarene said and, without waiting to hear a reply from him, she used her enchanted hammer to whisk them away from Asgard and the blonde sorceress that had so raised her ire.

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Within the Main Laboratory of the Enchantress Amora, One Second Later 

"So what did you think of the young Thunderer, my daughter?" Amora asked to the open air as to most eyes there was no one but her in the room.

"He seemed no different than any other man whether that man be of Asgard or Midgard." Replied a younger yet cynical voice as the air to the right of the Enchantress shimmered green before revealing a young ebony-haired teenage girl dressed in appropriate sorceress garb, "I do not see why you were so insistent that I be present during this little 'meeting'. 'Alexander' may possess more power than most mortals on Midgard, but he his hardly worth your time or **mine**."

"Oh, you have always been so quick to judge others my daughter. Rarely do you look beneath the surface to see what potential treasures may reside inside a person." Amora said with mild chastisement before looking at her daughter Signe, "The boy, Alexander, may be of Midgard but there is power within him not unlike what resided in Lord Thor before the Thunderer inherited the Odinforce. While still developing, he has a power that may one day be the equal of any warrior in Asgard, save mayhap Thor himself. He also possesses formidable inner strength, or did you not notice that he was able to resist my attempts to seduce him?"

"Mayhap he be strong enough to resist thy actions physical by themselves, but if you had added a single spell to your efforts he would have fallen for you without fail." Signe replied, still not seeing her mother's point of view, "Besides which, even if he were somewhat satisfactory, what would be the point in luring him to our side mother? He holds no position in Asgard nor does he possess any useful influence over the people of Midgard. Therefore he is useless to us."

_As unable to see the strengths of a Thunderer as her father, curse his rotten soul!_ Amora thought as her efforts to bring her offspring around to her line of thinking thus far were failing, _'Tis his shortsightedness that hath prevented him from taking advantage of many opportunities that went his way. I must enlighten my daughter to the rewards of gaining Alexander's favor!_

"Then you would be uninterested to know that your rival, Tyra, daughter of Fandral, desires Alexander despite her protests to the contrary." Amora said, baiting her proverbial hook with bait guaranteed to catch her daughter's full attention.

The silence and lack of teleportation that followed her words were confirmation enough that Signe was willing to listen for a while longer and allow her to state her case concerning Alexander.

"Two and one half weeks ago I watched as he sparred with Fandral and there was no mistaking the interest she showed in him. While she might, on the surface, profess to despise him and the defeat he dealt you in Lord Thor's audience chamber, I believe that once she looks past her wounded pride she will notice her true feelings for him." She explained, wording things precisely in order to lead Signe down the correct road of thought, "You have long spoken of your hatred for Tyra and this would seem to be a most potent means of gaining a measure of retribution for all that she has done to earn that hatred."

Silence was the only response to this web of words, but to her a lack of response from her daughter was not necessarily a bad thing. It meant the young raven-haired sorceress in training was considering what she had been told and that alone would be sufficient to lure her down the right path.

"At least consider my proposal, daughter. If nothing else, Alexander should prove to be at least slightly more amusing for you to play with than the young men of Asgard that you have had your way with thus far." She said, neither giving up nor pressuring Signe, but rather planting seeds that may eventually provide the desired results.

This was met only with young Signe teleporting from the laboratory without saying a word, but it was all the confirmation that she needed. Almost all the pieces were now in place and the game about ready to begin.

_And what a game it will be! _She thought as her mind began to envision all the possible outcomes that would be most favorable to her and Signe.

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Earth, The Rooftop of Tarene and Xander's Apartment Building, Noon 

_Man! Am I glad to be back on good old Earth! _Xander thought to himself with some relief since being here meant no sexy blonde sorceresses to mess with his head.

It had been a trial and half-trying to keep his mind on **why** he'd been there rather than **who** it was he was looking at and **what** she seemed determined to show him. Still, considering that Amora had quite a rep in the comics for being able to seduce just about anyone she set eyes on, he was quite proud of himself for not being reduced to a slack-jawed idiot. Still, he had other things to worry about at the moment than possibly unwanted advances by Amora; at the top of the list being to get over to the Avengers mansion before Thunderstrike and his team set out for that other dimension to fight Doc Doom. With that in mind, he decided to ask Thor Girl a question about that he needed an answer to if things were going to get off on the right foot.

"So we flying over or are we gonna do a mini-teleport to their front lawn?" He asked, wondering which way would be less troublesome.

"Fly, of course. I still possess my membership card from the time when I was a reserve Avenger years ago. It should allow us to enter the mansion without any trouble." She replied in a matter of fact tone, "Assuming, of course, that Jarvis has not erased it from the security system's database."

"You mean you're not sure?" He asked, not liking how bad things could go if their arrival went the way things usually did when people 'assumed' something.

"As I said earlier, Alexander, it has been a while since I last defended Midgard. It is possible that it has been too long." Tarene replied before looking at him, "Now transform into your 'Thorian' form and let us be off. Unless, of course, you do not care if these new Avengers know your secret identity?"

Deciding that it wouldn't be worth it to keep picking at the potential complications their arrival at the Avengers mansion would cause if Thor Girl's membership with the team had expired, he simply slammed his fist into the ground to initiate the transformation into Thorian. With a flash of blue-white light and the boom of thunder, he shed his mortal form of Xander Harris and became the hero named Thorian. Taking a moment to adjust to the change both in physical size as well as mystical empowerment, he then decided to take the lead and took to the skies with his hammer pulling him along.

Almost immediately he felt a decided change in how hard it was to steer himself in the right direction. Before when he had used Mjolnir to catch up with May, it had been like a contest of wills between him and the mighty Uru hammer. However now, two and a half weeks later, he found his control had increased substantially. While there was still some resistance from the hammer, it was more akin to an unruly second in command occasionally testing his or her limits with their commanding officer. This change puzzled him and made him wonder what could have caused such a change with the only immediate answer he could think of being his training since then under Tarene. If that was indeed the case, then maybe her new stone cold method of training might actually be worth it after all. Maybe in a year's time, assuming he was still here and not back in Sunnydale, he would possess full mastery over the weapon, allowing him to wield it without worrying about making a mistake.

Only time would tell he supposed.

It took about ten minutes to reach the front yard of the Avengers mansion and as he began his descent, he wondered what kind of reception he and Tarene would get. Would it be the automated defense system because Thor Girl's membership had been erased from the computer system? Would it be one or more of the new roster of Avengers looking to repel or apprehend two unknowns touching down outside their HQ? Personally he hoped it would be a simple two or three person 'welcoming committee' followed by a brief explanation of why he and the Designate had come before ending with all of them heading off to 'Doom Earth' to kick some butt and change someone's fate. Allowing Tarene to take the lead, the two of them walked up to the front doors of the mansion and once inside he found himself prone to distraction as they headed to what he presumed would be the main meeting room. Adorning the walls were numerous of past Avengers, both in the midst of battling some dangerous enemy as well as taking it easy, as well as videos playing. Now, back in Sunnydale, he had never really been a big Avengers fan even though he could probably name about half of them off the top of his head, but he always considered them the major leagues as far as the super hero scene was concerned. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Ant Man, Wasp and the Incredible Hulk were the legends of the hero business and the team that they had unwittingly formed thanks to Loki definitely deserved the line 'world's mightiest heroes' attached to them. Now, walking down a hallway of history, he began to have second thoughts about going through with his plan to join the next generation of Avengers on their mission to Doom Earth.

_The last time Avengers went through the portal to Doom Earth more than half of them didn't make it back and the ones that did looked half dead._ He thought to himself as he spotted the two large double doors at the end of the hallway that probably led to the main meeting room, _If me and Tarene go through with this, we might be among those that don't make it back!_

This concern was well-warranted because while the trip had only claimed the life of the Crimson Curse in the comic books back home, that didn't mean things would go so smoothly here. In this reality there were no universal comic book rules to ensure that the good guys would always win, that the dead rarely **stayed** dead, and the bad guys always had a flaw that could be exploited. In this world anything could happen, including getting killed and, considering that he was pretty much a rookie, his odds for survival were not very pretty.

However, as Tarene reached out for the door handle to open the double doors in front of them, he realized that there was no real turning back now. He was here, he had chosen his path and **MAN** would it look bad to everyone else if he turned around to make a run for it. Whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to step forward or lose face in the minds of people who had done so much for him since he'd arrived here in this reality. With that in mind, he put on his best game face and strode into the occupied meeting room, determined to show no weakness as well as commitment to the mission ahead of him.

"Miss Thor Girl! I thought the mansion systems mistaken when they alerted us to your arrival. How good it is to see you again!" Spoke a man who was clearly getting up there in years but still had what it took to do his job.

"'Tis good to see you as well, Jarvis! I just wish it were under better circumstances." Tarene said as she grasped Jarvis' arm in a warrior's handshake.

"'Better circumstances'? Do you mean to say you know of the portal being reopened?" Jarvis asked before finally noticing the other hammer wielding warrior in the room, "And who is this? He bears a vague resemblance to Master Thor."

"This is Thorian. He is a student of mine on Asgard and it is because of one of his unique gifts that the two of us have come to offer the Avengers our aid." Tarene replied using one hand to gesture in his direction, "Though they be not under his control, Thorian occasionally is privy to glimpses of the future and it is through one such glimpse that your mission into another dimension was revealed."

_So now I'm psychic huh?_ He thought as he considered Thor Girl's cover story for his otherworldly knowledge, _Well I guess it's as good a cover story as any._

"Really? What a coincidence, 'cause I think I'm seeing a bit of the future myself." Said Bluestreak after zipping from her seat to his side and began checking him out, "Yep! I'm seeing dinner, a movie and some quality time back at my place."

_Great! First Amora puts the moves on me now I got a speedster version of Dawn looking to start something with me! _He thought with a mental sigh, _I just hope this isn't the start of a trend or something._

"Mayhap so, fair lady, but for now we both have a task set before us that dost take priority." He said, trying to steer things back to the matter at hand without upsetting the blue haired teenager.

"Sure thing Goldilocks, but afterwards you an' me are going to get to know each other **real** well." Bluestreak said before returning to her seat in the blink of an eye.

"Now that we're back to the matter at hand, perhaps you could tell us what you saw Thorian and why you believed the Avengers would need the assistance of you and Thor Girl?" Stated the armored Avenger known as Mainframe.

"As with most visions, mine glimpse of the future was series of images and voices that bombarded mine mind almost too fast to be comprehended. I saw the world that thou wert about to lead thy comrades to and saw that it was a world where darkness ruled while the forces of light barely manage to survive." He explained being careful to keep up with the Thor-speak, "In that world of evil, those that art considered heroes to us here be the blackest of villains and rule over a people of broken spirits. That evil is on the verge of regaining an ability torn from them by the Avengers of old, one that wouldst allow them to invade this reality, and that thou art destined to stand against them. While I knowest not how these foes may be defeated one thing I am sure of is that one of thou willst not return alive without the aid of Thor Girl and myself."

"Could you perhaps be a bit more specific?" Stinger, aka Cassandra Lang, queried, "Which one of us is going to die?"

"As I hath said Lady Stinger, the glimpses I receive of the future art difficult to understand at the best of times. The most that I can say to thee with any certainty is that it shall by thy comrade that attempts to unmake the key to thy enemy's wish to conquer all realities within their reach." He replied not wanting to fall into the trap of making something come true just because of something he said.

To this silence filled the room and he could see that many of the Avengers were looking back and forth between one another, attempting to deduce who the ill-fated one might be. Seeing this, he wondered if he should have just kept his big mouth shut since his words seemed to have just made a bad situation even worse. He knew from the comic books that the choice to cross through to the other reality was not an easy one made for the next generation of Avengers and that it was out of responsibility for the destruction of the safe guards that Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch had put up that they had gone. They had learned too late that the device Tony Stark had created and made Wanda Maximoff a part of had been designed to make sure no one from the Doom Earth reality came through. By destroying it and lacking the expertise to reseal the portal, the A-Next crew had decided to go through and finish the job the original Avengers had started. Considering the state of the original Avengers upon their return, he knew that everyone from Thunderstrike through to J2 had been tempted to just leave it alone their sense of duty and honor drove them forward.

_If that's the case then I'll have to let them know exactly what I think about visions of the future and prophecies!_ He thought before saying, "Whilst I will admit that thy mission will be most perilous and that mine words have only strengthened the wariness in thy hearts, I urge thee to stand fast. Whilst prophecies and foretellings of the future should be heeded when they come from trustworthy sources, they are not absolute! Through knowledge gained from them it is possible to change the path that the future may take! More than that, know that if thy grant Thor Girl and mineself permission to accompany thee, we both shall do all that we can to ensure that all shall come home!"

"Well said, Thorian! Well said indeed!" Spoke Jarvis, whose spirits seemed to be much improved thanks to the young Thunderer's words.

"While I don't quite know what to make of your glimpse of the future Thorian, I will concede that the addition of two more to our group would be welcome for this mission." Mainframe said from his position before turning to look at Stinger, "Unless any on the current roster has any valid objections?"

"Why are you looking at me?! I agree that having two more people with us will increase the odds in our favor, especially if they're even half as powerful as Thor is." Stinger said, not liking that her past challenging of Mainframe's presumption of leadership over the Avengers.

"Then unless anyone else has any objections, I suggest we get underway." Mainframe said as he began to head in the direction of the elevator that probably led to the sub-basement where the portal was located.

Following the group of young next generation heroes with Thor Girl at his side, they all went down in groups (with Bluestreak **conveniently** being in the group he was in) and, after some twists and turns, eventually made it to the jump-portal. Seeing it in real life it looked a little less impressive than it was drawn to be in the comic books back home. It looked more like a half finished sculpture, or maybe a piece of framework for a pipe network, but definitely not a gateway to another dimension. Still, he should know better than anyone that appearances could often be deceiving and what looked harmless could actually be the key to a world ending apocalypse or some seriously bad mojo. As Mainframe activated the portal and set the destination for the last co-ordinates entered, the world that the old Avengers went to on their last mission, he knew he was about to become a part of something **BIG**. This wasn't some smalltime vamps or being a member of the support team for the Slayer like back in Sunnydale. This time **he** is one of the **heavy-hitters**, **he** is one of the **big guns**, and so he would be expected to be able to provide the raw strength and power needed to defeat the Thunder Guard when they arrived. More than that, he would likely be the person to be paired up with the evil Thor on Doom Earth and, truth be told, that was what bothered him the most. In the comics the evil Thor was able to trounce J2, who arguably was just as strong as his father, the Unstoppable Juggernaut, and only an overloaded punch from Mainframe was able to put him down. That move would take Mainframe out of the picture for the rest of the battle and perhaps was what allowed Doom to attack Crimson Curse from behind, forcing the crimson-clad woman to sacrifice herself to ensure that both Doom and the Universal Cube were destroyed. If he was the one, however, to step in and finish off the evil Thor, maybe Mainframe would be free to help the Crimson Curse in defeating Dr. Doom. Or would it be that he would be the one fated to confront the green and steel gray clad dictator instead?

_AAARRHGGHH! All this 'what if' stuff is driving me nuts!_ He thought to himself as he watched the golden light of the activated jump-portal flare into existence, _I'm just going to go in there and do my best! No more hypothetical thinking unless I absolutely have to!_

"Trust in yourself, Thorian. Though it has been a short while since your training began, you have already exceeded my expectations greatly." Thor Girl whispered to him while Mainframe confirmed the stability of the portal, "Remember what thou wert taught and be mindful of thy surroundings. I know you can do this."

"Thanks!" He said with a genuine grin of gratitude.

"Alright team! The portal is open and I've confirmed that a stable connection has been formed to the world the old Avengers went to." Mainframe said, joining the rest of the team in front of the portal, "We don't know what we'll find on the other side, so be prepared for anything. Let's do this!"

With that, the group charged through the glowing circle of energy like glorious warriors charging into battle against great evil but completely confident that they would emerge victorious in the end. Seeing this, he had to wonder if the old Avengers had thought the same thing when they first went through years ago. How badly had their confidence been broken when the first of them fell against their evil twins? Just how hard had they been required to fight to just delay the alternate Dr. Doom's plans all those years ago? One way or another he was sure that he wouldn't like the answers, but he took some solace in the fact that it was unlikely that he'd encounter an alternate version of himself. After all, he figured that his reality was so far removed from the MC2 universe that the odds of encountering an evil Xander Harris in that evil world, much less one with Thor powers, was slim to say the least.

_Yeah! All I have to do is make sure that the evil Thor eats dirt early on and that Doom doesn't get anywhere near the Crimson Curse when she tries to unmake the cube. _He thought with optimism mere seconds from passing through the jump-portal event horizon, _Simple! Piece of cake!_


	5. A Dark World Revealed

Doom Earth, One Second After Steeping Through the Portal on MC2 Earth 

_Note to self: when traveling to other dimensions via techno-do-hickey, be prepared for major dizziness and noticeable upset stomach,_ Xander thought since the warping of the senses thanks to dimensional travel was definitely unpleasant.

As his senses returned to normal, he could see that this world was definitely a dictatorship because not only were there images of Doom's face everywhere, but his slogans and policies. Phrases like 'obey the leader' and 'doomsday is coming' were written on billboards up and down what looked like Times Square as well as reminders of what ol' metal face expected of his subjects. All in all it looked like what probably would have come about had Hitler won World War two and then proceeded to take over the entire world. It was disturbing on several levels thanks to the memories of Nana Rosenberg's stories as a child and made it clear to him, now more than ever, that things are much scarier in person than displayed in the pages of a comic book. Looking at the people walking up and down the streets, he could see both in their expressions and in their clothes the desolation of a spirit that had been beaten into submission. It saddened him to think of how a once happy and vibrant world could be reduced to this but it also angered him when he thought of the possibility that an alternate version of Buffy or Willow might exist here. The very thought of the bubbly, bright brainiac or the sassy, skilled soldier being reduced either to slaves or storm troopers brought his blood almost to the boiling point.

_If Doom has so much as harmed a hair on either of their heads I __**WILL**__ bring this empire of his down around his ears! I __**SWEAR**__ it!_ He thought as he restrained himself from making any impulsive decisions.

"So **this** is what an alternate reality looks like. COOOOOOL!" J2 exclaimed as he took in the scenery, "Can we go home now?"

"Not until we learn its intentions towards our Earth!" Mainframe responded from his position in the group.

"Sure! Sure! Sounds like a swell idea, Mainframe. Let's just hurry it up, okay?" J2 asked looking increasingly unsettled by what he was seeing around him, "This place makes me nervous."

"I don't blame you, Juggie. All this signage is rather ominous." Thunderstrike said in agreement with his comrade albeit while remaining a tad more composed, "I wonder what it's supposed to mean?"

"There's an easy way to find out, Thunderstrike," J2 replied before turning to one of the civilians close by. "Excuse me, m'am, I wonder if—"

That was as far as the son of the original Juggernaut got before a look of fright and submission snapped into place on the woman's face.

"I…I will do **whatever** you command, Guardsman! **WHATEVER!** To hear is to obey!" The woman exclaimed before scampering off like a storm of bullets was on her ass.

"Errr…never mind then," J2 stated clearly shocked and confused by the reaction he had received. "Was it something I said…or is she just prime Prozac material?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions. There's a chance we're the first costumed heroes she's ever seen." Thunderstrike suggested although his caution level went up a level.

"More like this world has a habit of making examples of people who don't snap to it when talkin' to someone in costume, T-strike." Xander said since he was all too aware of how dictatorships like this instilled obedience in its subjects.

"**ALL HAIL THE MASTER**!! Forgive us for not preparing a suitable welcome, Guardsmen." Came the clipped tones of an obedient lackey that soon became attached to one of many local 'police officers' on the approach, "For reasons that are probably far beyond my security clearance, headquarters never told us you were coming."

"How may we assist—**WAIT**! What in the name of **Doom** is that woman wearing? I-it almost looks like an…an…," stuttered the officer once he caught sight of American Dream decked out in her red, white and blue duds. "Y-you're not members of the **Thunder Guard**!"

"No loyal citizen would parade around in that forbidden **flag**!" Declared another officer as he brought his assault rifle to bear on the group of heroes, "Produce your **identity disks** or your lives are **forfeit!**"

There was a split second of indecision amongst the group of heroes, a moment when they weren't certain what would be the best move to make, but thankfully the simple teenage mind of J2 solved that problem quickly.

"OOOOOPPPPPSSSSS! I seem to have left my wallet in my other reality!" The muscle-bound giant said as he started taking down officers left, right and center.

"W-what are you doing, J2?" Mainframe asked in surprise since that turn of events probably hadn't even entered into his computations.

"He's showing a little **initiative**, Mainframe—and I, for one, support him!" Stinger declared as she shrunk to the size of a five year old, took to the air and began firing stinger blasts at her allotment of baddies.

"I'm with you Stinger!" Freebooter stated as he used a combination of his staff skills and unarmed combat skills to take two 'policemen' out of the picture, "Based on their overreaction to **American Dream**, I doubt these pretty boys will listen to reason!"

"Aye! T'would also be most troublesome if Doom were to gain too much knowledge of us ere we could devise a way to thwart his scheme." Xander said as he used his hammer to crush the front half of the police truck the goons had come out of, hopefully along with their radio, "Better to leave naught but fragmented tales from these pawns then a detailed report!"

"You're probably right, Thorian, but I had sincerely hoped to complete this mission without violence." Mainframe stated as his opponent fired round after round of what might as well been spitwads at his metal armor.

"So did the rest of us, Mainframe." American Dream stated as she delivered a kick to her sparring partner that would require he find a pack of ice in the near future.

"Amen to that!" Crimson Curse said as she used her powers to set the weapon of her enemy aflame thus forcing him to drop it.

"If you guys are so down on fighting, you should have joined the **Peace Corps** instead of the **Avengers**!" Bluestreak commented with her armful of 'borrowed' firearms as she knocked an 'officer' off his feet, "Don't tell me I'm the only one who gets off on the super scene!"

"You're missing the point **Bluestreak**—as usual!" Thunderstrike said as he used a double thunder blast to knock three enemies away from his location, "To one degree or another, we're all into our individual powers but clobbering people his **hardly** the best use for 'em! Now that those storm troopers are down, we should—**huh**?"

Looking in the blonde man's direction it took less than a second to discover what had interrupted his fellow thunderer's words. With one hand on the guy's shoulder was a dark haired woman who seemed to strike a tremendous chord with the herald of a new generation of Avengers.

"**Excuse me**! I heard your friend mention the Avengers," said the raven haired woman before removing her hand. "If my suspicions are correct, you are all in grave **danger**."

"**Maria**!? W-what are you doing here?!" Thunderstrike exclaimed, putting a name to the woman worried for their well-being.

"If you're **who** I think you are, then I'm **not** who you think I am." Maria said with increasing tension in her voice.

"Say **what!?**" Thunderstrike exclaimed as his mind no doubt stalled for a moment.

"There's no time to explain!" Maria said before gesturing to an area nearby, "Follow me!"

"How do you know this woman, Thunderstrike?" Mainframe asked as the Avengers plus two thunderers followed the woman down a nearby alleyway.

"S-she bears a striking resemblance to a close friend of mine!" Thunderstrike replied, only his on auto-pilot legs keeping him with the group.

"How close--!?" American Dream asked with a tone in her voice that everyone recognized.

It was clear that the blonde American Dream might have more than friendship feelings for T-Strike and didn't like the possibility of a rival existing either in this reality or the one they belonged to. Ah, the typical 'we are just friends but kinda not' scenario complete with beautiful blond and rival-to-be. The only difference, of course, being that this time the guy component of the trio had a pulse and the raven haired one wasn't a rich brat. Still, he knew of two possible outcomes to this situation and one of them would be biting the dust if he managed to intercept a certain thunder blast in time. After all, if he was going so far as to save Crimson Curse from predicted death then why not one more lovely lady?

"Hurry! You must get off the streets. One of the troopers must have uplinked a distress call." Maria said as she pushed open a door in a wall disguised as solid brick.

"You're obviously putting yourself at great risk to help us—why?!" Thunderstrike asked as his brain was apparently on the verge of getting back on all four cylinders.

"Let's just say I've heard stories about the Avengers." Maria said as she entered the hidden passage she'd revealed, "Very **inspiring** stories, Eric"

One by one they all entered the passageway and followed the hallway contained therein to a manhole cover that obviously led to the sewer system. It wasn't the kind of 'rebel base' he'd been hoping for but hopefully this was just the safest way of getting to said base rather than turning out to be the base itself. As he stepped off the ladder and Tarene put the manhole cover back into place, he managed to catch the end of the beginning of a new verbal exchange between T-Strike and Maria.

"I…I'm what?!" Thunderstrike asked as though he desired the answer more than anything.

"I-it's too complicated to go into right now. I promise to fill you in after we join the others." Maria replied with hesitation at the prospect of answering the young hero's question.

"Others--?!" Mainframe asked in surprise as this solo-rescue was changing into something more.

"The rest of **my** team, Iron Man." Maria replied as they walked down corridor after corridor of underground tunnels.

"You seem to have us confused with our predecessors, young lady. I am Mainframe." The gold and black armored Avenger stated to correct the woman's error.

"B-but you are the **Avengers**, right?" Maria asked as though she was beginning to wonder if she'd made a mistake in helping them.

"No question about it!" Thunderstrike replied immediately to dispel the woman's uncertainness.

They proceeded onward for a while until they reached what appeared to be an intersection of sorts in the network of tunnels where with stealth that surprised him a group of armed people that looked like civilians surrounded them. It was a bit of a surprise since he was certain that no ordinary human could sneak up on every last one of them without something giving their positions away. So either this group had some sort of tech that rendered them invisible to detection or everyone else knew this ambush was going to happen and only he had been caught unawares.

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH! You can step away from the **prisoners**, Lieutenant Sapristi. We have them surrounded." Declared the apparent leader of the ambush team.

"Your associates, I presume?" Mainframe asked while showing no outward sign of hostile intent.

"STAY CALM, EVERYONE! I believe that these people are from that alternate **Earth** we've been told about." Maria Sapristi stated in an attempt to head off any misunderstandings between the two groups.

"T-that woman's costume! It's just like—" One of the other members of the ambush team said in surprise.

"YES—**EXACTLY**—And that is why I think they should be brought to the Captain himself." Maria said thereby explaining her reasons for leading the lot of them through the tunnels.

"Not so fast, Lieutenant! I'll decide if your new friends can see him…**after** they answer a simple question." Said a man who up until then had been hidden off to the side, "Who won the second world war?"

"Isn't that the 'Private Ryan' war? Gosh, they don't teach that at school anymore." Bluestreak asked with levity and probably a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

"Quiet, Bluestreak." Mainframe ordered before giving his own reply, "The **Allies**—England, Russia and the United States."

"You want the box scores too?" Thunderstrike asked with a bit of impatience.

"Lose the attitude, junior. This is no game." The man said as he lit a cigarette that was between his lips.

"You're the one with the silly questions." American Dream said coming to the defence of her not-boyfriend, "What possible relevance could that old war have on today?"

"In my world, **little girl**…PLENTY!" Replied the man as he finally stepped into the light to reveal a person no one but him probably expected to find with rebels.

"**M-Mister Jarvis--!?**" Just about everyone exclaimed with the exception of him and Tarene.

This apparently was enough to convince the man, this world's Jarvis, apparently, that they were indeed from the MC2 universe rather than Doom Earth. From there things went a bit smoother and within a few minutes they were led by Jarvis down a series of tunnels that were definitely more secure than the initial ones that Maria had taken them down. Most likely she'd known that the not-butler and her team would be at that intersection and led them there so as to avoid the almost certain fight that would have happened had they just gone straight to Rebel HQ. All in all events were occurring just as he remembered them going in the comic books back home and that meant in a few minutes they'd encounter the living legend of World War two himself. While he had seen pictures of the guy back in the MC2 universe, he had no doubt that meeting the man himself would be way more awesome. He knew the situation was still serious and everything, but meeting one of the flagship heroes of the Marvel Comics line up was going to be so cool he'd have to work pretty hard to keep from having a geekasm when he saw the shield man.

"Sooooo…**where** are we? Is this one of those standard, grim and gritty, sci-fi futures?" J2 asked as the continued to walk down more and more well-maintained corridors.

"Based on the evidence, I believe we merely traveled across vibrational planes." Mainframe replied from his position next to the one eyed Jarvis.

"Say whaaaa?" J2 asked clearly not understanding the term and thus making it clear he was not as old as he appeared to be in his superhero form.

"Juggie, think classic Star Trek---'Mirror, Mirror'!" Thunderstrike replied sounding a little tired of his teammate's lack of understanding of the situation.

"OH! A parallel Earth! Got it." J2 said with the light of understanding and recognition finally filling his eyes.

"Star Trek?" Mainframe inquired as though the term was unfamiliar to him.

"You aren't familiar with it?" Thunderstrike asked tentatively as the group proceeded down the corridor.

"On the contrary, I'm a huge fan." Mainframe replied shocking just about everyone with this revelation but not enough to make them all look weird to the rebels.

"You?! I didn't think you liked anything fun!" J2 stated, revealing another bit of how he perceived his teammate.

"Ahem You people are about to meet our commander in chief." One Eyed Jarvis stated attempting to bring some seriousness to the situation, "If Lieutenant Sapristi is correct about your point of origin, you may recognize him because he comes from your world."

With that the solid steel door they had arrived at was opened wide to reveal the rebel base in all its glory but that was of secondary importance to everyone from MC2 Earth at the moment. What had everyone's attention, what everyone but him staring in disbelief, was the man standing atop what was probably the main command platform. Standing with his hands behind his back in all his red, white and blue glory was the son of the Super Soldier program, Captain America. Looking at the former Avenger, his mind didn't even question how this man had managed to obtain the reputation that he had or why he instinctively trusted the man. He had an aura of command and nobility about him that was so thick that a person could almost grab a hold of it with their bare hands. It was like meeting King Arthur and Superman all rolled into one shield-wielding package leaving the Xan-man feeling just slightly overwhelmed.

"CAPTAIN AMERICA!? B-but everyone back home thinks you're dead!" American Dream exclaimed in surprise at the sight before her.

"A convenient cover story! When my team of **Avengers** and I first came to this reality, we immediately realized that our **Earth** would never be **safe** unless the gateway was **sealed** permanently." Captain America replied as he took in the new arrivals before him, "After completing our initial mission, I chose to remain **behind**, and work with this world's **underground**. The others returned home, and added my name to the long list of those who had fallen in battle. Too many of my friends had already died here. I wanted to discourage the rest from trying to find me."

As he heard Mainframe begin to introduce the various members of the new roster of the Avengers to the Captain, Xander decided his time would be better served trying to get a grip of how he would handle what was to come. He knew that sometime soon an elite group of members belonging to Doom's Thunder Guard would crash the party, giving the A-Next crew their first taste of what super powered beings were like in this reality. He knew from reading the comics back home that the team from the MC2 universe would successfully manage to flee with the other rebels to their secondary HQ. However Lieutenant Maria Sapristi would be killed by this world's Thunderstrike when the villain struck her with an energy attack. When the time came, he would do his best to prevent that come occurring, nay he would do all he could to save as many rebels as he could, but the question was would he have the time. He knew that it was likely thanks to their quick retreat that loss of life was kept to a minimum. If he took the time to save that many extra people, would that make their escape take too long? And if so, would it give the Thunderguard the edge they needed to do some damage?

_No use second guessing myself. I'll just have to follow my heart and hope that I don't wind up just making things worse._ Xander thought to himself as he head the intros coming to an end.

"So you're related to Sharon Carter. She was a good woman." Captain America said to American Dream with a look of remembering in his eyes, "I don't think I ever fully recovered from her unexpected death. I-it was a heavy factor in my decision to stay here."

"As someone whose read her personal diaries, I can safely say that she…she loved you very much, sir." American Dream said with a tone of voice that made it clear this was as emotional a topic for her as it was for Steve Rodgers.

"I hate to interrupt, Cap, but we're all real anxious to find out what's going on here." Thunderstrike said breaking the mood before the too could become too lost in their personal memories.

"I don't blame you, son. While this Earth bears a striking resemblance to our own. It took a severe turn for the worse. As far as I can determine, both worlds were roughly identical until a seemingly trivial—but very pivotal—event in World War two." Captain America explained as his disciplined soldier composure asserted itself, "On our Earth, the Red Skull was trapped within a hidden bunker where he remained in suspended animation until modern times. Here he somehow managed to escape. Since he was believed dead and free to move behind the scenes, he **changed** the world forever by assassinating Adolph Hitler. Others had tried to kill the Fuehrer to **end** the world, but the Skull wanted to save the Nazis from certain defeat!

"With the entire Axis war machine behind him, the Red Skull was unstoppable! He cut a bloody gash through the entire planet and killed everyone who dared oppose him." Rodgers explained with closed eyes as wishes of that past never happening no doubt ghosted through his mind, "With his hand picked cronies—each as merciless as he—the Skull eventually conquered the whole world. He reigned supreme! Years later, during an annual purge in the Balkans, he made a fatal error…when he chose to spare a young gypsy named Victor Von Doom. Doom became the Skull's official heir and eventually murdered him.

"Since the entire economy of this planet is based on military aggression, Doom needed new worlds to conquer. He spent billions on scientific research and ultimately produced a Universal Cube which could open portals into other realities," Steve explained as the events he described drew closer to the present. "That's when my team of Avengers first learned of him!"

Sadly the retelling of the past of Doom Earth was cut short as the A-Next crew, along with he and Thor Girl, began to notice a decided pick up in activity amongst the members of the resistance in the room. All about them men and women were gathering up materials and resources before carrying them to an area at the far end of the room. He knew what was coming but it was a bit sooner than he had anticipated since he figured they'd at least be able to hear the conclusion to the story before the red alert sounded.

"You'll have to finish the history lesson later, sir! We're under attack!" Maria yelled as she helped her comrades gather all the vital bits and pieces necessary to the rebel cause, "The Thunder Guard has found us!"

"Fire up the jump portal, and evacuate the base!" Captain America ordered with significant urgency in his voice.

"Avengers Assemble! We can help provide cover for these people!" Thunderstrike ordered as the A-Next crew prepared themselves for battle.

"Who is this mysterious Thunder Guard that everyone keeps mentioning?" American Dream asked as she removed one of her shield disks from her arms.

"On this world, people with super powers or enhanced abilities have two choices…they join the guard…or they die!" Captain America replied just as a blast from above tore through the ceiling leaving a bus-sized hole in the ceiling, "The Thunder Guard is Doom's most elite fighting force! There are only about fifty members at present…which gives you much better odds than the original five hundred or so that the original Avengers had to fight! Among this handful I see Iron Cross, Deadeye, The Swordsmaster, S.S Agent, Pincer, Overman and a few others in the back!"

"Thanks for the handy intro, old man! I'm actually glad to see you've got a new bunch of costumed cheerleaders. It means there's still some fight left in you." S.S Agent said as he attempted to take Cap out of the fight early with a flying side kick, "You're devotion to an antiquated ideal has made you a very special project of mine!"

"Keep talking, Walker! Your kind would rather talk about an ideal than live it!" Rodgers said as he made it clear how spectacularly ineffective the attack had been by countering it.

From there things pretty much devolved into one big knock-down-drag-out-fight with the A-Next crew pairing off against various members of the Thunder Guard while the human members of the resistance evacuated all the essentials from the base. For him and Tarene, though, it had them squaring off against two opponents at a time that while members of the Thunder Guard, based on their outfits, were not high enough in the chain of command to hang with the top dogs. He couldn't spare enough time to look over his shoulder to see who Thor Girl was facing because the Harris luck had hit him big time by pairing him off against to femme fatales that had him on the defensive. The first looked like a darker and more sadistic version of the Scarlet Witch who was currently amusing herself by flinging anything that caught her fancy at him. Her face was obscured by a hood as well as a blindfold so he couldn't be sure if it really was Wanda Maximoff, but she was definitely not lacking in the magic department from what he could tell as she lifted an entire console off the ground and tossed it at him. He was able to knock it to the side with his hammer but that almost caused him to get tagged by his other sparring partner wearing an outfit that was a combination of the Black Widow and Elektra. Her face was painfully clear to see but covered with so many scars and burns that it was impossible to determine what her normal face had once looked like. Nevertheless he was able to catch a glimpse or two of Maria Sapristi every now and again so he had not yet abandoned the possibility of saving her from death.

"You really shouldn't look away from us you pathetic imitation of Donar," said Black Elektra with a raspy voice as she continued to press forward in her attack on him with a punch kick combo. "We might not rank the same as Iron Cross or S.S Agent, but we are still Thunder Guard!"

"Tis not a mistake I canst make, lady!" He said as he used his hammer to shatter the ground beneath her feet, "Nevertheless, thou shalt not win this day!"

"More a jester than a knight! **Giggle**!" Spoke the Black Witch as she summoned more heavy objects to her side with a flick of her wrist, "Pretending to be a warrior but only a boy!"

Her voice struck a chord within him, causing him to freeze on the spot to look at his dark-clad female opponent and that was enough to give Black Elektra an opening with which to land an attack. A savage thrust kick to the jaw caused him to stumble backwards with disorientation strong enough to make him even more vulnerable to the blows that followed. Conscious thought as out of his reach at the moment but he still had his instincts and that was more than enough for him to strike out with his hammer. It only barely managed to graze Black Elektra but it was enough to send her flying towards her teammate and apparently the unexpected attack caused a moment of indecision in the Black Witch. After all, how else could you explain why the two of them collided with one of the blades on the Elektra wannabe's forearms cutting through the hood and blindfold of the dark clad magic-user? However as the hood fell to the woman's back and the blindfold fluttered to the ground, he was treated to a sight that had him shocked all the way to his very soul. The face was older, the hair was shorter and there was a transient madness in her eyes that seemed to come and go with the ticks of the clock but he recognized her.

How could he not recognize his Willow?

His Willow was the Black Witch and a member of the Thunder Guard.

With that his Murphy's Law engine went into overdrive and as he looked over at Black Elektra, his mind began to assess her face to see if it possible for it to have once been like another person he remembered. It took only four seconds in reality, even though to him it was more like a lifetime, but in the end it was all too believable that the scarred female warrior now once more on her feet had once been one Buffy Anne Summers. This conclusion shocked him to the core and left him only barely able to put up a passable defence as the Doom Earth version of his hero began her attack anew. His mind was a blur of thoughts and scenarios as he tried to understand how the two people he had fought with against the demons of Sunnydale could become leg breakers for this dictatorship. One scene after another swept past his eyes, each one depicting another way that the women before him might have been twisted into who they were now, with each being more horrible than the last. It was this and this alone that allowed him to be struck from behind by a blast capable of sounding like rumbling thunder. It felt like he'd just been hit by a sledgehammer and because it struck the center of his back, his nervous system was knocked for a loop. He crashed to the ground and nearly lost his grip on his hammer but even as he regained some measure of motor control, he knew he was in trouble. By allowing himself to become distracted, he had provided an opening for the enemy to take advantage of and build upon. Rolling over onto his back the person he saw standing over him made him both sigh in relief and curse his luck, given what it meant for his chances of escape.

"What's the matter, 'thunderer'? Are you another one of those copycats from the other Earth who underestimates me?" Eric Masterson asked with a look of anger on his face, "Just so there's no confusion, I used to be **Eric Masterson** but you can call me **Storm-trooper**!"

_Not good! I might not have paid much attention to the series they did on this guy but I know that he's no pushover._ He thought to himself as he did his best to place himself in a defensive crouch.

"So you still have some fight left in you? Good! I was hoping for something of a challenge from mission!" Eric said as he charged forward with his mace Thunderstrike ready to be employed as a blunt object.

In response to this, he too brought his hammer back in order to deliver a blow of his own but his target would not be the man but the weapon. From his knowledge of the MC2 universe, this reality's version of Eric Masterson would eventually become one of the big guns of the resistance after a confrontation with MC2's Thunderstrike. Considering that the only superhero that the rebels had was Captain America, he could not afford to deprive them of some much needed muscle by taking the bearded man out. With a clash of metal and energy the two weapons struck, sending out shockwaves that kept other combatants from advancing closer and, thankfully, it seemed he was strong enough not to be pushed back even one step. Pressing forward with all the strength he could get from his legs, he wanted to knock the man off balance so he could land a blow that would disorient the member of the Thunder Guard long enough to get to Tarene. If Storm-trooper was here now then it would only be a matter of minutes before the charges set around the rebel jump gate would blow. If they didn't make it through in time they'd be trapped there with the Thunder Guard and most likely be either killed or captured thanks to sheer overwhelming numbers. As he watched an unsteady waver appear in the man's stance, he allowed himself a slight pat on the back as phase one of his plan fell into place. Bringing his hammer back for phase two, he prepared to deliver a potent blow to the man's jaw when he was struck by two solid cup sized objects in the back. That however was as much as he was able to ascertain before a large electrical charge was sent through him lighting up his pain receptors like the fourth of July.

It also had him eating floor.

AGAIN.

Sadly with this attack he was a little more pressed to bring his mind back online and was only able to understand about half of what his senses were telling him. He thought he heard Thor Girl calling out to him and hoped that she'd be able to save his ass without getting her own cute one blown off. Sadly after a moment of sensory distortion thanks to the shock he'd just received he heard Tarene cry out in pain and hoped that what he thought might've happened hadn't **really** happened, otherwise the both of them were screwed in more ways than one. It took about three minutes by his reckoning for his mind and body to return to normal but when he looked around to get a handle on the situation he almost wished they were still out of whack. Mr. Murphy must really hate his guts at the moment because not only was Tarene down and apparently unconscious, but Doom Earth's version of Thor had arrived as well. Most likely either he alone or perhaps teamed up with Thunderstrike, the two of them had taken the more experienced lady warrior out of the fight leaving him seriously outclassed.

An explosion rocked the underground facility and judging by the size he decided that it was probably those charges around the jump gate going off. He was now officially on his own with no means of escape except through the Thunder Guard and their disposable wind up soldiers. Seeing as how he had yet to take down even one of them and was slightly sore from the electrical attach from a few minutes ago, he measured his odds of coming out on top to be somewhere between slim and none.

_Oh well! Not like I was all that concerned with the odds before I got these powers!_ He said as he decided to try something desperate in the hopes that it would through off the enemy and make an opening for him to build on.

Drawing upon his latent memories from Halloween and what it felt like to redirect the energy that teen sorceress had sent at him in Thor's audience chamber he unleashed a massive blast of energy from his hammer directing most of it at the Thunder Guard. It was hardly very refined nor did he really expect it to defeat them, but he was hoping it would reduce the stability of this room significantly and stir up a little chaos. When he felt the discharge had been sufficient enough he stopped and was glad to see that his plan of destabilizing the structural integrity of the room had worked. However looking at the members of the Thunder Guard still on their feet, every last one of them, he had to wonder why the universe hated him so much. Seeing the hammer of this world's Thor and the mace of this world's Thunderstrike ceasing their whirling motions he could only presume that they had taken the brunt of the blast for their comrades. Obviously he was going to have to try something a little more indirect if he wanted to get any results so bringing his hammer up over his head he prepared to smash the floor in order to knock them off the feet with an artificial earthquake.

A moment later though all the air was knocked out of his lungs and a sensation of a few bruised ribs become the most dominant thing in his mind. His strength soon left him causing his hammer to fall from his hands and the rest of him to crash to the floor soon afterwards. Like a person suffocating his body refused to heed his commands with the necessary speed and strength and he had only just managed to get up onto his elbows before a large shadow was cast over him. Looking up he saw Donar aka Doom Earth's Thor standing over him with a storm cloud expression plastered on his bearded face. Seeing this twisted copy of Thor, this disgrace of Asgard, the remnants of Thor within his mind as well as his own anger is almost enough to motivate him to begin the battle anew. Sadly Donar had a different idea in mind and with one swift strike of his black copy of Mjolnir he is sent brutally into the darkness of unconsciousness.

Only the Almighty knew if either he or Tarene would ever be allowed to wake up again.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Two Hours Later, A Thunder Guard Prison Complex Outside the City**_

The Interrogation/Torture Chamber 

"AAAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!" Xander cried as yet another powerful current of electricity was channelled through the metal restraints around his ankles to those keeping him from moving his arms.

"I will ask you again rebel. Where are your comrades?! What is the location of their secondary base of operations!?" Yelled his interrogator from his position next to the controls.

"A-and I **say** a-again web for b-brains: go jump off a bridge!!" He managed to growl out even though his voice betrayed how much pain he was truly in.

"Stubborn fool! You're defiance is only going to cause you more pain." Interrogator Parker growled in annoyance at his current guest's lack of co-operation, "Tell us everything you know and maybe I'll try and convince Donar that you're worth more alive than dead."

"Well seeing as how you're the bad guy of this scene, which means you're incapable of keeping a promise, I think I'll just keep my mouth shut." Xander growled back as he wondered privately how much longer he'd be able to withstand the **interrogation** if Doom Earth's Peter Parker continued plying his craft.

It had pretty much been like this since he'd been placed on the table he was currently in and that had been a little over an hour ago. Sadly there hadn't been a single point along the trip from the remains of the rebel base to this building for him to try and escape since he'd been unconscious all that time. It had only been an injection of stimulants after he'd been tied down that had woken him up at all and by then it was took late. From there he'd been interrogated, first with threatening words before going for torture, and for the last hour or so he'd managed to endure it. Unfortunately it wasn't because of his Thor powers that he'd been able to endure because apparently for the past two hours he'd been just plain old Xander Harris, aka Thomas Olsen. It had not been a pleasant thing to learn that just like the character he'd gone out as on Halloween, he could not afford to have Mjolnir leave his hand for too long or he'd revert to a normal human, so the only thing he could credit with his defiance so far was the abuse he'd suffered at the hands of either his parents or the demons he'd fought alongside Buffy. Between the two sources, he'd built up a considerable tolerance for pain but he wasn't stupid enough to think it would last forever. With Tony, Jessica or the demons, they'd give him little respites between inflictions of pain or get pulled off of him by someone before it got too bad. With Parker, though, he knew the only respite he'd probably get was when he lost consciousness from the pain and even that was in doubt considering the drugs that might be used to keep him awake.

"Hmph! I suppose it doesn't really matter if you talk or not. We have your female companion locked up here as well and she'll almost certainly give us what we want sooner than you will." Parker said as a malicious gleam entered his evil eyes, "After all, she is a member of the weaker sex and I'm sure that it won't take McCoy and Creed too long to break her spirit. After all, the last two super powered women they handled turned out so nicely. I believe you met them during the attack on the rebel base."

This caused him to grow concerned because, while he wasn't sure if the McCoy Peter mentioned was Hank 'The Beast' McCoy, the last name of Creed he knew that the first name must be Victor. Victor Creed, aka Sabertooth, was a sadistic son of a bitch that took pleasure in causing both physical and mental suffering in his victims. Where most people would probably just settle for conventional methods of torture, Creed would probably get inventive in his attempts to get info out of Tarene. Add to that the fact that he knew whom Parker was referring to, the Black Witch and the Black Elektra, and he had a new reason for wanting to get free. Logically, in his head, he knew that they weren't his Willow and Buffy but just the same he couldn't separate the two versions from each other or the emotions that came along for the ride. So when he finally had names to put the misery and suffering his two girls must have been put through he wanted nothing more than to obliterate both McCoy and Creed. However until he found a way to reclaim his hammer and his powers, he doubted very much that he'd be a match for them so enduring the torture was the best he could hope for at the moment.

"You underestimate her. My lady friend is far stronger and more resilient than anyone those two have ever come across before and is probably already putting her escape plan into motion." He said trying to sow some seeds of uncertainty in Parker's mind, "I just hope she's considerate enough to provide me with an opportunity to get out of here as well."

"I assure you that they are quite thorough in their work and every person to leave their 'tender care' either goes unwillingly to the grave or faithfully to the Thunder Guard academy. Besides which, she's been stripped of all her weapons as well as anyplace she might have concealed weaponry so trust me when I say that she is quite helpless right now." Parker said before he pressed a series of buttons on his control panel, "In fact, I expect the next time you see your friend, she'll either be right beside you in front of a firing squad or right alongside them giving them the order to shoot you. Nevertheless it's clear that conventional means of torture will take too long with you and the Master wants answers as soon as possible."

With that Peter got down from the platform his control console had been on and moved leisurely to the right before leaving his field of vision. Normally he would have just turned his head to see where the sicko version of Spider-Man was going but his head was restrained just as thoroughly as the rest of him was at the moment. However his ears were working just fine though and he was able to hear the hiss of an electronic door slide open. Footsteps were the next thing he heard but they weren't going farther away but rather they were getting closer along with Parker's footsteps as well. Ten seconds later he saw who the second set of footsteps belonged too and almost immediately he wished he'd passed out from the electro-shock treatments. Standing there with a new blindfold and her hood back over her head was none other than Doom Earth's version of Willow, who he had dubbed the Black Witch. Considering her appearance he could only assume that she was a mystic of some kind but that was inconsistent with what he knew of this reality. According to the comics the Dr. Doom of this Earth had standing orders to kill every person who showed even the slightest aptitude for magic. If that was the case then why was Willow still alive rather than rotting in some mass grave someplace outside the normal routes of travel? The only two possibilities he could come up with were that he didn't consider her sane enough to constitute a threat or this version of Doom Earth was slightly different in this respect from the one illustrated in the MC2 comics.

"Allow me to introduce to you one of the Thunder Guard's rising stars. The Master has designated her Medusa and for a very good reason. While she is a competent magic user, her primary ability lies in her eyes much like the gorgon of old but where the mythological creature turned people to stone with her gaze, this lady is different." Parker explained as the young woman beside him looked right at the restraint table without being able to see, "When she looks into a person's eyes with her own, she could quite literally be said to be looking into their very soul. It isn't quite telepathy, since she's been tested thoroughly by our top psionic agents, but nevertheless the results from her probes have been quite rewarding. Sadly those subjected to her gaze are left little more than broken drones whose only value is in the cheap form of slave labor they provide. Shall we see how you fare? Medusa? You know what to do."

"Of course! It's going to be so much fun!" Medusa aka Black Witch aka Willow stated like a kid that had been told to go play, "Tippy-toe! Tippy-toe! I wonder what your mind will look like. Will it be like paper? I so love to play with paper!"

"Um…I don't know?" Was all he could say in response since handling the mentally unstable wasn't easy in the least.

In response to this she reached up and removed the blindfold covering her eyes and while for a moment they were the familiar color he'd always attributed to his bestest bud, that soon changed. Like that black ink stuff shown in the X-Files series masses of liquid black began to flow across the surface of her eyes until nothing but oily blackness could be seen. However the moment their two sets of eyes locked together reality, how he perceived the world around him, took an unexpected vacation and sent him straight down the rabbit hole. For a time it was impossible to make sense of anything whatsoever but eventually order was restored but it was a different order than he was accustomed to dealing with. The world around him was now a mishmash of modern southern Californian architecture and the kind of buildings he usually saw when he went to Asgard with Tarene. While there was some logic to the combinations it nevertheless looked bizarre to him and made him wonder if more was going on within him than he realized.

"Oh this is so much better than I thought it'd be!" Came an exclamation of happiness from above and behind him.

Turning around, he spotted who he assumed was Willow but aside from a mass of blackness in the shape of a twenty-something woman there were no other distinguishing details of any kind. He was no expert on telepathy, magic or how someone was supposed to look like when in someone else's mind, but he thought it was supposed to be something like how that person saw themselves mentally. Like if they perceived themselves to be a warrior of some kind they'd appear in the mind dressed in armor wielding a sword or something. Did that mean that this Willow saw herself as darkness personified? That didn't jive with what he knew of her in the real world since on the outside she was more of a semi-sane little girl looking to have some fun. To him this only compounded the horrible acts committed against Willow by Creed, McCoy and overall Dr. Doom himself. He knew that his original mission to this reality was merely to save Maria Saprisiti and the Crimson Curse while also ensuring the destruction of the Universal Cube but now he wanted more. He wanted to completely decapitate the leadership of Doom's corrupt regime, to destroy all the key players until naught but witless underlings remained, so that just as Victor had taken everything from Willow so too would Doom lose everything.

"Silly boy! Doom is forever. Doom is Order. Doom will never be destroyed." Willow stated as though she had overheard his thoughts, "Let's see why you think such naughty things."

With that the dark form of Willow's mental self floated into the air like a dark cloud and began to move deeper into the center of the city. Not wanting to leave her to her own devices or discover what Captain America had planned, he ran off after her as fast as his feet could carry him. As he ran down the street, he could see bits and pieces of each building apparently came from some memory he had of a place he'd been. The museum where the Incan Mummy had been, the Bronze and the Espresso Pump located in downtown Sunnydale all existed here to some degree. If this city was the symbolic representation of his mind then he had a pretty good idea of where the Black Witch was headed for her answers. If he remembered his X-Men comic books right, the place where a person hid their most private or important thoughts was the place where they felt the safest or the strongest. For him that could only mean one place: the library at Sunnydale High School. It was there that all of his friends gathered to fight the good fight and it was there that he associated knowledge with more often than not. With that in mind he began to use the various buildings he saw around him, mixed with his desire to get to the high school, guide him to his destination.

In essence his will, his desire, would ensure that he got to his destination as soon as possible rather than merely trying to navigate via recognized landmarks. It took about two minutes from his reckoning, assuming one could reckon anything in an environment like this, to reach his destination and judging from the mass of darkness touching down in the school courtyard he was only a few steps behind the Black Witch. Doing his best to speed up he soon found out that while his attempts to navigate the corridors of his mind were pretty good for a beginner Doom Earth's Willow was at least a league above him. He needed to slow her down some so he could catch up with her so he decided to try words since he doubted very much that he could pull anything more impressive off.

"Don't you know there's no running in the hallways?" He said as he traveled down the slightly distorted school corridors.

"I remember school! I remember my Mommy and Daddy taking me there day after day when I was growing up. Then I started to do strange things and the Thunder Guard came and took me away." Willow replied, rolling onto her back but still flying towards the library, "But then they taught me so many great things! The Master is a great man who knows that only through obedience to him can peace be made possible!"

"Your 'Master' is a monster who is slowly and brutally killing the human spirit! He doesn't want a kingdom of people to rule over! He wants nothing more than a planet of unthinking machines!" He yelled at her, hoping that slandering her boss would be enough to get her to stop since humor was obviously lost on her.

"Giggle! Silly boy! You don't understand the Master at all." The Black Witch said as she turned the final corner, giving her a clear line of sight approach to the library doors.

_Time to try something stupid!_ He thought as he tried to use the power of his mind to create some obstacles for Medusa.

He'd seen this done in countless cartoons and TV series where battles were held inside of a person's mind. The overall premise that when one was within one's own mind, they could control the environment with their minds and even create reinforcements in the form of both real people as well as fictional characters. All that really mattered was the strength of the person's willpower and that meant he might actually be able to pull off a solid defence so long as his will remained strong. So with a surge of will and a determination to keep the Black Witch out of the library he willed a wall of solid steel to rise up around it on all sides. It was no walk in the park channelling the necessary willpower into doing something like this but he was gratified when he turned the corner and saw a strong-looking steel barrier blocking Willow's path. Even she seemed a little surprised at this unexpected turn of events but he knew it wouldn't last very long. If the Thunder Guard academy was what he thought it was then they didn't tolerate failure and more importantly each graduate would have to be very good at what they do: sowing death and destruction. So he had no doubt that she'd recover quickly and tear through his barrier on the first try so now was the time to build on what he had started. Using the rest of his willpower for this move required that he stop moving but if he was lucky he wouldn't need to move a muscle himself.

Like wraiths, forms appeared all around the Black Witch, gradually changing from complete transparency to looking as solid as he did, with each of them taking on the forms and abilities of his own personal heroes: Captain America, Spider-man, Iron Man and Thor. Each of them he considered a true hero should be and it didn't hurt that he could relate to each of them in a different way. For Cap it was his honor. For Spider-man it was his sense of humor. For Iron Man it was his way with the women. For Thor it was his courage. While he was not at the same level as them in these areas they were definitely was he aspired to be like one day. They also possessed abilities that could be used non-lethally against an enemy and he definitely desired that in this case. All he wanted was to force the woman to leave his mind and hopefully not return anytime soon. He had no intention of using lethal force and would only consider it if it was the only way to protect the resistance of Doom Earth from complete destruction.

It was like a live action recreation of his favorite comics playing out before him only this time he was the one providing the power to the good guys. He had his Spider-Man make the first move by firing off twin lines of webbing in the hopes of pinning down the Black Witch long enough for the others to get some shots in. Unfortunately one web-line missed completely while the other turned to smoke an inch before it would have made contact with its target. Deciding that he needed to get a little more up close and personal, he sent Cap and Thor in next with Iron Man standing by to deliver a ranged attack should it be necessary. This approach was slightly more effective as it caused Medusa to dodge the attacks directed her way but judging from the giggling he heard coming from her all he was doing was amusing her. Definitely not the sort of reaction he was hoping for and nowhere near enough to drive her from his mind. With great reluctance he channelled more of his willpower to his warriors and ordered them to step up their attacks to a point just shy of lethal. With this done, he watched as Iron Man let loose a barrage of pulse blasts from his hands while Thor fired off a lightning bolt.

"Naughty boy wants to play rough! Fine! I can play rough too!" Willow snapped angrily as she apparently needed to put forth some effort to block Thor's attack.

With those words tentacles began to grow from the walls of the corridor and then shoot forward in an effort to either impale or entrap his warriors. Fortunately a combination of his willpower and his belief in his creations was sufficient to allow them to retain their freedom. The speed and agility Spider-Man and Cap possessed was enough to allow them to evade their group of tentacles while his remaining two warriors merely powered their way through the things seeking to ensnare them. Sadly it seemed as though the effort of keeping constructs such as his warriors in existence was not for amateurs as he was beginning to feel quite a bit of strain mentally. If he had to liken it to anything, keeping his warriors solid as well as on the attack was like holding half his own bodyweight high over his head for as long as possible. While at the start it isn't too bad, eventually a person's muscles begin to tire and the effort required to keep the object in place grows in leaps and bounds. Looking at the fight going on as well as the steel barrier around the library, he could already detect slight fluctuations in both proving that he was growing weaker.

_I need to wrap this up fast or else she's gonna break through!_ He thought to himself as he reduced the number of heroes on the battlefield from four to just Spider-man and Thor.

Channelling the power he'd used to produce Cap and Iron Man into his two remaining creations, he noticed a marked improvement both in their power as well as their skill. Add to that the fact that he could no longer detect any flux in the metal barrier surrounding the library and he thought that he just might be able to pull off his plan.

Sadly the Fates disagreed with this diagnosis.

"Bored now," The Black Witch stated before tendrils of energy shot forth from her arms and began to wrap around his two remaining heroes.

For a moment he only thought that she would throw them through a wall but when an instant later he felt a wave of fatigue wash over him, he knew what she had done. Somehow she had taken the willpower he had put into the two remaining heroes and made it her own, thus making him weaker while making herself stronger. Also with his two adaptable lines of defense gone, only the steel wall he had placed around the library remained to block Medusa's advance. He had a feeling it would be lucky to stop her for a second or two. Deciding that the time had come for him to pull out all the stops he did something that shocked Willow senseless and immobilized her for ten seconds total.

He removed the steel barrier surrounding the library.

He knew that the barrier wouldn't have done a thing to stop her just by being there so he had decided to stop wasting energy maintaining it and put that power to better use. Slamming his fist to the floor of the school within his mind, he willed his form to change and his power to rise in order to bring his costumed personae Thorian to the battlefield. Once the transformation was complete, he wasted no time going on the offensive as he threw his hammer at Willow's exposed back and surprisingly it connected. Hell! Not only did it connect but it also seemed to actually hurt her a bit! For a moment he was pleased that **something** he did had managed to affect her but as the Black Witch turned towards him he realized a little too late one thing about Willow's that was pretty much universal.

You hurt Willow and she will make you feel bad about it soon after.

Only in this case he had a feeling it would be more like physical pain than mental even if they were inside his mind at the moment.

With a speed and ferocity that completely floored him she shot her energy tendrils out at him and had him wrapped up tighter than Giles' funny bone. He then expected her to drain him of his energy, his willpower, just like she had done the last time she used this particular trick. However, just to be original, Fate decided to put his earlier idea to use and had the Black Witch slam him into wall after wall with each impact making it harder to maintain his altered form. However it was the big finale that was truly the worst since in the end she did throw him through a wall to finish things off but in this case it was the wall just to the right of the doors leading to the library. As he was rather forcefully submerged within his most precious memories he knew that he had failed in his task to keep Medusa from the knowledge she sought. The only thing that brought him comfort was the fact that he only knew what the comic book back home knew and that was only the key points of the adventure. Nothing in the comic books would give her the locations of rebel bases or who was a part of the resistance beyond what the Thunder Guard probably already knew. Besides in the comic books Doom had been expecting the A-Next crew and Captain America so nothing would really change in that respect.

_I just hope she doesn't sneak a peek at the filing cabinet labeled XXX._ He thought as his mental self shimmered back into plain old Xander Harris, _Otherwise I'm gonna wish I was dead and probably __**BE**__ dead a few moments later!_

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Thirty Minutes Later, Real World, Thunder Guard Complex, **_

Quarters of the Black Witch aka Willow Rosenberg 

Was that real?

That was the question the semi-sane mind of Willow Rosenberg asked herself while sitting cross-legged on the bed that had been provided for her at this place. It had been thirty minutes since she had withdrawn from the prisoner's mind and told Mr. Parker what she could about the rebels. She revealed to him their plans to attack during the final tests of the Universal Cube in Central Park as well as the different routes the members of the resistance would take for their assault. However for some reason she withheld the knowledge she had gained about how that battle would go and this confused her significantly. That was information that she should have mentioned in great detail because that would ensure that not only the Universal Cube would survive but also the Master. At the mention of the Master her mind was bombarded with the words and phrases that had been burned into her mind for years after being taken from her family. Obedience. Diligences. Vigilance. Doom is supreme. Those who serve Doom are rewarded. Those who oppose Doom die. It took a moment for her head to clear and once again she asked herself why she hadn't provided all the information she'd uncovered to Mr. Parker. The only answer she could give was that she withheld the knowledge because of what she had seen in Xander Harris' mind.

Another her.

Another Willow Rosenberg.

At first it had been something of a shock to learn that the prisoner that had been brought back from the rebel base was named Xander Harris. That shock only increased when she decided to take a look at him with her powers and saw a face she had not seen since she had been taken from her family. She had been only thirteen at the time and, in the preceding months, she had learned that she was not like the other girls her age. She had a power that allowed her to lift things off the ground with her mind and change the environment around her to her liking. For a time it had been good and she had even let both Xander as well as Jesse in on her little secret. Like the good friends they were, they had promised not to tell anyone about what she could do and for the next two years they helped her hone her powers even further. She had thought that those times would last forever but it came to an end soon after they started high school. Jesse became infatuated with the local rich girl Cordelia Chase, whose father was relatively high up in the state government. As soon as she and Xander had found out about this, they had re-emphasized to Jesse that he wasn't to say a word about her abilities to Cordy. He had made a vow right then and there that he would not tell Chase without checking with them first to see if it was okay. Both she and Xander should have known that with how infatuated Jesse was he couldn't be trusted to keep his mouth shut about the important stuff around Cordy.

It had been while she, Xander and Jesse had been walking to the local theatre where the owner occasionally showed pre-Skull and pre-Doom films that the men in vans came. It had been with a screech of tires and then pounding of booted feet that a group of Doom troopers had surrounded the trio before moving in. She had been the first to go down when she had been hit with a paralytic dart that while completely immobilizing her would also allow her to see everything that happened around her. It was while under the influence of the drug that had been in the dart that she had seen both Jesse and Xander try to stop the men from taking her. While they were obviously afraid of the Doom troopers, everyone was to one extent or another, they were also fiercely loyal to her and weren't about to let them take her without putting up some resistance. If it had just ended there the two of them would probably have spent a few years in prison before being re-educated and then released. However when the passenger side door of one of the vans opened up and a man stepped out passive resistance as well as prison ceased to be an option. It was Donald Chase, Cordy's father, with a smug look on his face that made it clear that he expected either a promotion or a fat raise for helping to bring her in. When Jesse and Xander saw who was responsible for exposing the existence of her powers to the authorities, their reactions differed. For Xander it was one of rage as well as a desire for retribution: rage at the fact that someone would sell out another just to make themselves look better and a desire for retribution on Cordy since she had obviously told her dad about her. For Jesse though it was one of guilt and pain: guilt because of what he had indirectly brought down upon his friends and pain because the woman he loved had betrayed his trust by telling her father a secret told in confidence.

In what they did next though her two friends were as one in how they thought.

With a courage and determination that she had only seen flickers of before in them they began to fight against the Doom troopers. A back kick to the groin and a right hook took down the one that had been holding Xander while a bite on the arm as well as a throw dispatched the one restraining Jesse. The boys had just managed to obtain the weapons of the troopers as well as bring them up to fire when the remaining troopers opened fire and cut the two young men down in a hailstorm of bullets. That moment had produced the first crack in her mind and it was one that was quickly built upon when they had taken her to a Thunder Guard complex. Over the following two years they not only determined the extent of her abilities but also twisted her mind into what it was today: loyal to the Master and a soldier in his cause. By the time people like Creed and McCoy were done with her, any thoughts of defiance or resistance had been destroyed leaving only scattered remnants behind to hide in the remote corners of her mind. Thus it came to be that after five years of mentoring under one of Doom's mystics that she officially became Medusa as well as joined the Thunder Guard. That is the path that lead her to where she was now but what she had discovered inside of the other Xander's mind though made her wonder if that was the only path open to her.

In his mind she had seen two other worlds and both of them had been full of light and hope that seemed so foreign to her as it did not exist under Doom's rule. One she knew was the world where those 'Avengers' came from but it was the second world, the one that this Xander called home, that interested her the most. In this world there were no people with super powers like there were in her world or on the World of the Avengers. Instead it was a place that seemed completely normal on the surface but held an undercurrent of magic as well as supernatural beings like those stories her mom had told her about, a world of Watchers and Witches and Slayers who fought a silent war right under the noses of the masses thus keeping that world safe. It was in that world that she discovered what might have been had neither Doom nor the Red Skull ever rose to power in this world. In that world this Xander was a close friend to that world's Willow and saw her as the sister he'd never had but always wanted. Through her investigation of his mind she not only got to experience his memories of her but the feelings that went along with them. It had stopped her cold, the potency and deepness, the feelings he felt for her other dimensional counterpart and made her wonder if anyone in her dimension felt that way about her. She knew that her Xander and her Jesse definitely did but they were dead and since becoming part of the Thunder Guard she was little more than tool to be used then stored away until needed again. It wasn't the sort of existence that she would wish for if given the choice but just the same it was one she had come to accept during her days learning about her powers.

_Does it have to be this way forever?_ She thought wistfully as for the first time her mind began to explore other possibilities, _Is this path the only one I can walk?_

_**OBEDIENCE! VIGILANCE! DILIGENCE! DOOM IS ALL! DOOM IS ORDER! DOOM IS FOREVER!**_

With all the force of a freight train colliding with her, the words that had been burned into her mind asserted themselves and worked to smash all signs of alternative thinking. Just as it had a few times before the lessons she had been taught at the hands of Creed, McCoy and other instructors brutally attempted to destroy any ideas that had not been created by Doom. However unlike before, she now knew things could be different so instead of submitting to the barrage of forced lessons she fought against them. Knowing that the world didn't have to be as dark as it was, that there was a chance that an individual person's dreams could shine, she refused to concede to others any longer. This was **her** life! Her **future** was her own and no one else's! With determination and resolve that was only strengthened each time one of the other Xander's memories made a cameo appearance she fought to remove the unwanted restrictions in her mind. It was a fierce battle and if someone on the outside were to look at her during this conflict they would see crackling energy dance over her form as well as a resolve face they'd never before seen. For what seemed like hours to her, she fought to remove the chains that had been forced on her from her mind so she might embrace the treasure that was free will for the first time in ages. In the end, against a determined redhead and memories borrowed from another, the programming that had been shoved into her crumbled to dust from the force of her attacks, thus for the first time since she had grown old enough to understand as well as fear Doom's tyrannical regime she now truly had the ability to choose her own destiny.

As she came back to the real world, she was momentarily overcome with a wave of exhaustion and only then realized the amount of effort she'd put into freeing herself from Doom's programming. Fortunately it was only momentary and soon her strength returned as well allowing her to contemplate where she should go from here. She knew that she could no longer remain with the Thunder Guard now that her will was no longer suppressed by Doom doctrine. Even if she tried to imitate what she thought they'd expect from her, sooner or later they'd notice some sort of inconsistency that would make them suspicious of her. However if she chose to leave the Thunder Guard, she would not be able to do so alone and some kind of destination would have to be designated besides 'away from here'. Even though her power was much greater and more versatile than it had been when she first discovered it, she knew she was still not as strong as other members of the Guard. If it came down to a fight between them and her, she would give a good accounting of herself but in the end she would lose and likely be killed. She would need allies, people who might be receptive to the idea of leaving the Thunder Guard, and once she gained their support a destination would have to be chosen. Searching through her mind for a place that would be safe from Doom's regime, she found none that were completely free of his taint but there was one that offered the possibility of creating such a place.

The Resistance.

While not exactly an opponent that could fight Doom's army on equal footing they had been unusually hard to stamp out even when under attack from some of the most powerful members of the Thunder Guard. They were fighting to restore the world to what it had been before the Red Skull and Doom came to power and possessed a resolve that matched what she had possessed when removing the foreign thoughts from her head. They had good tacticians at their disposal, since that was the only way a person could win against superior power, which meant the only thing they lacked was power. If she and those she persuaded to join their side allied themselves with the Resistance, it could very well be the first step towards overthrowing Doom once and for all. It would not be easy to convince the others, most likely she would simply have to sell the Resistance as a refuge first and a cause second, but she believed it could be done.

She even knew who the first of her recruits should be.

She even had something to offer the woman.

A restored face to replace the scarred one.

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	6. Allies Gained and Changes Made

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material shown herein nor do I intend to make a profit from this. I write this only for the enjoyment of it and the reviews I receive from my loyal readers.

Note: A big round of applause for my favorite (and only at the moment) beta reader AnimeRonin for helping me out for so long. I don't know why he puts up with me 'cause Lord knows I have probably come dangerously close to driving him insane with the work I've sent him to look over. Thanks a bunch my friend!

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_**Fifteen Hours Later, Thunder Guard Prison Complex, Interrogation/Torture Chamber**_

_Looks like I finally found out where my limits are._ Xander thought as the series of ever increasing shocks began again.

For the past ten hours he had been subjected to a form of torture that not only pushed his body to the limits, but also his mind. Simply put, the computer would, at random intervals, hit him with electric jolts starting from a level that was barely noticeable to the kind that brought him dangerously close to breaking bones with his convulsions. It would go like that again and again, starting low then going high, before repeating the process after hitting him with a full force discharge. When added to the fact that the entire room around him was rendered both dark as well as silent, and he had nothing but his own mind to distract him from the pain. Considering how his mind tended to wander during history class, it should have been easy for him to come up with something, anything, to block out the pain the jolts were causing him. Sadly, not even his happy place of a bedroom filled with all the girls who were his friends dressed in sexy lingerie couldn't quite get the job done. This caused him some serious worrying, since he had never been trained to endure torture and his own pigheadedness would only get him so far. Unless Lady Luck decided to take pity on him sometime soon, he was going to break both mentally as well as physically, resulting in an eternal stay on the funny farm of Doom.

He heard the swish of the door to the room opening, momentarily bathing the room with a separate source of light from the hallway, admitting Interrogator Parker, who was probably there to show him some 'mercy' by 'generously' offering to end the pain.

"Still awake, I see. That's somewhat impressive considering most inmates who undergo that form of re-education pass out at least once or break their arm." Parker said with mild interest but nothing more, "Still, I doubt you would be able to endure much more before your mind shattered, reducing you to a drooling sack of flesh. Therefore I've been authorized to offer you a deal. Join the Thunder Guard and serve the Master loyally and you will reap the rewards of the victorious. I'll even see about you getting assigned to Medusa's team since you seem to have a connection with her. What do you say to that?"

For a brief moment he was tempted, tempted to take the offer and escape the pain, but then the noble spirit within him rose up obliterating that idea. No matter what the danger or the problem, he'd never backed down from doing what he believed to be right, even if he got the crap beaten out of him in the end. While it was true that accepting the offer would put an end to the torture and maybe even partner him with the Willow of this world, he'd have to live with the shame of having abandoned his principles for the easy path. However he was unwilling to do this because there was a helluva difference between doing what was easy and what was right. It was a difference he knew all too well and ever since he met Buffy, he had chosen to do what was right in an effort to make himself better than his father. His father would have caved almost immediately before begging for mercy and promising everything, including the deaths of every member of his family in order to escape the pain of torture. That fact alone gave him all the reason he needed to do what came next.

"I'd say that all those chemical fumes from your webbing have made you loopy if you think I'd ever join the Butcher Guard!" He yelled out as best he could, despite the soreness of his throat due to the screaming he'd been doing during the shock torture.

"Hmph! Typical heroic foolishness is common in that other reality, I see." Parker said with disdain as he began to walk over to a now-illuminated control platform, "It should be easy enough to conquer if all its defenders are so idiotic. However, if you will not join the Thunder Guard, then I see little point in keeping you alive. With knowledge of the attack the resistance plans on launching on the unveiling of the Universal cube, there is nothing more to be gained from you. Time to die."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," came a taunting voice from the darkness before the inky blackness came alive as tentacles and hands.

Like water from a shower nozzle hands and tendrils shot out towards Parker with each of them coming within millimeters of hitting him, but his spider-like reflexes and agility saved him each time, allowing him to evade each source of danger by bouncing around the room like a demented ping-pong ball. Not that that stopped the tentacles from coming after him or the hands from trying snag him, but at the rate he was going, it would take quite a while. He was surprised, though, as he heard the sounds mechanical clicking all around him, followed by the sudden absence of everything that was keeping him tied up he realized the true purpose of the onslaught.

"An admirable try, Medusa, but you should know full well by now that you can't defeat me." Parker said as the wall crawler came to a rest on the ceiling just after Willow stepped out of the darkness, "I must admit to being somewhat surprised at your attack. There had been some concern that contact with this other worldly counterpart to your treacherous friend Xander might spark something, but open rebellion was considered highly unlikely. Still, what do you hope to achieve by yourself?"

"Who says she'll be taking you on alone?" Xander asked before turning his fall to the ground due to the lack of restraints to hold him up to his advantage.

Allowing gravity to pull him to the ground, he clenched his fist and, when he met up with the floor, he slammed it down, triggering the transformation that would enable some major payback for him. With an explosion of light and sound of crackling electricity, Xander Harris was no more and Thorian, warrior-in-training of Asgard, took his place with a look in his eyes that did not bode well for Parker. With the transformation finished, the lion's share of the major damage that had been done in the interrogation had been healed in the blink of an eye. The rest was mere discomfort rather than anything impeding and that meant that he was more than capable of doing what he desired to do to Parker.

"Willow? Go airborne." He said plainly as he began to raise the power of the Thor within him to a high level.

Seeing her obey him, he put his plan into motion generating a torrent of electricity that succeeded in electrifying the floor, the walls and the very ceiling on which Interrogator Parker now crouched. The objective of the move was to eliminate any surface for the evil web slinger to cling to, thus forcing him to go airborne in order to keep from getting fried. Seeing the monster that had been causing him pain for the past couple of hours leap from the ceiling before the electricity could hit him brought a smile to Xander's face as everything went according to plan. However, just as the creep reached the halfway point to the floor, Parker used his webshooters to fire a line up at the ceiling that attached successfully thus bringing his descent to a halt.

"Not a bad plan, Harris. Just about what I'd expect from a muscle bound ignoramus like yourself." Peter said mockingly from his upside down position hanging from his web line, "Did you really think that I wouldn't take certain precautions against a prisoner that could control lightning? I specifically created it so that it would be completely incapable of conducting electricity. So feel free to waste as much energy as you like! It won't do anything but make you easier to capture afterwards."

"There's only one flaw in that scenario Parker," Xander said with a voice that rumbled like thunder. "You assume that the energy I'm creating will behave the same as normal everyday electricity. Considering the fact that I'm generating it myself without any external support, I think it's pretty obvious that it **isn't** your garden variety collection of electrons. Here's a **demonstration!**"

With those words and all the willpower he could muster, Xander mentally commanded the electrical current he was channeling throughout the room to leap forward and attack Parker. Needless to say with no place to dodge and his webbing no longer sufficient to keep him safe, the various bolts of electricity hit their target, striking the malevolent wall crawler at fifteen points on his body all at once. Screams of pain filled the air as the man who had no doubt caused the suffering of countless innocents in his lifetime had all that pain turned back on him tenfold. However, as much as he might want to, Xander didn't keep the attack up long enough to kill the dark counterpart of Spider-man or even seriously harm the jackass. He kept it up only long enough to ensure that the sadist wouldn't be moving around anytime soon or causing problems for anyone else. Standing up, he looked over to where he saw Willow descending to the ground he now had to wonder why she had rescued him. From the way she acted in his mind and elsewhere, he had presumed that she was pretty much broken and subservient to Doom. That should have made it impossible for her to do anything without the approval of Doom or one of her superior's in the Thunder Guard.

"Unless she's shown a better way to live," Willow said as though she had been reading his mind.

"Huh?" was all he could come up with at the moment.

"You were wondering how I could have freed you and fought against a member of the Thunder Guard if I was one of them right?" She asked as though the answer should have been painfully obvious, "The answer is that through you, I found a better way to live."

"Uh…good. But if you're planning on leaving the Thunder Guard then we'd better get going." He said as he started to move towards the door, "There's no way in hell that everyone missed my little light show just now."

Just as he was about to enter the range of the door's sensor, the one that would cause it to open, the door opened on its own to reveal Doom Earth's Buffy but looking distinctly different from the way he remembered her. Gone was the scarred and beaten face that had been there before and in its place was a face that was both like the Buffy he remembered and yet not at the same time. There were definitely some attributes that came from her face but it was as if the best of them had been enhanced and improved upon with all the lesser traits barely being noticed. In short it looked like someone had given her a credit card with an unlimited amount of cash on it and set her loose on the world's best plastic surgeon. Looking down to take in the rest of her body, it was clear that it wasn't just her face that had improved upon. Fortunately he was smart enough not to let his gaze linger in any one spot, 'cause he was fairly certain that it was a universal constant that women didn't like it when men leered at their bodies.

"You don't need to worry about the guards on this level or the ones above and below. They're all taking extended naps for the foreseeable future." Buffy said in a voice that was at least a perfect match with what he remembered.

"You didn't…?" he asked worried that the walls outside might a rather fluid color of red at the moment.

"Don't worry! Medusa here had a feeling you'd throw a fit if did things my way, so I just gave them all a swift kick to the head." Buffy replied, sounding like she believed not killing the guards to be a big mistake, "They'll be a bit sore in the morning and one of them will have his jaw wired shut for a few months, but they'll live. At least until their superiors get a hold of them and have them executed for their incompetence."

_Not exactly pleased about that but there's not a lot I can do about it either._ He thought with a frown while looking at the sorta-Slayer in front of him, _I can't save them all and chances are each of them might deserve what they get. Still, I owe them at least a chance to make a run for it but I'll deal with that after I find and free Tarene._

"Still, it's only a matter of time before someone notices that things aren't quite right here and sends in the troops, or worse the heavy hitters of the Thunder Guard." He said as he began to move for the door and slide by Buffy who was leaning oddly against the doorframe, "We need to free Tarene and then create a distraction to keep Doom's grunts off our backs for a while."

"I know that your lady friend is being held down in the level three interrogation area. It's where they take the more powerful super powered people who prove to be a little too tough to crack." Willow said as she walked, no, glided through the air and landed behind him, "But I don't know what shape she'll be in. According to the last report I read, Creed and McCoy were trying out one of their more 'exotic' methods on her."

"Then we don't have any time to waste. Let's go." He said with a look in his eye that spoke of death for Creed and McCoy if Tarene was too messed up to recover.

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_**Thirty Minutes Later, Just Outside the Doors of the Level Three Interrogation Wing**_

"Alright. Once we're inside you're going to feel about half as strong as you usually are." Willow said as she walked up to the control panel that would open the doors, "That's the energy dampening field taking effect. It's set up throughout this wing for the purpose of robbing those inside of the power they need to fight back or escape. Only those wearing the special arm and leg bands are protected from it."

"So that'll be a few guards along with Creed and McCoy?" Xander asked with barely restrained impatience as he stood before the door.

"Actually the only living things in there are the prisoners, McCoy and Creed. The rest are all Doom bots and various other mechanical nasties." She replied as she placed her hand on the control panel and worked her techno-magic on it, "Even at half power and restrained, some of the prisoners down here are strong enough to cause quite a bit of trouble by seizing control of living beings. Still, only three people have ever successfully broken out of here and most of them were killed within a few days because they used the bulk of their power up all at once."

"Then I guess we'll have to be smarter than them." Xander said with confidence and determination, "Let's do this."

Nodding, she completed her final stage of hacking and smiled as the heavily reinforced door slid aside to reveal the metallic hallway of the interrogation wing. Carved into every surface were arcane symbols and runes meant to generate, maintain and guide the dampening field to where it needed to go while keeping it at full strength. Doom had been very insistent that the field be as impossible to break as possible and that **he** would have the only way to actually bring it down. She remembered her teacher, the Scarlet Witch, telling her about the day this wing was completed and the field came along. The gypsy woman seemed quite proud of her accomplishment since it would bring an end to science-driven force fields and absurdly sized restraints. The scarlet clad mistress of chaos had claimed that nothing short of an act of god could destroy her work and beings of that power were either dead, gone or had chosen to side with Doom. As Willow stepped through the doors and felt her own power diminish under the effects of the field, painful memories returned to her. They were memories of how she had surprised her jailers with how powerful she was and how they had brought her to a place like this to complete her re-education. Images flashed by her mind's eye and cruel sadistic voices crept out of the deepest recesses of her mind to the point where she might have mistaken them for something really spoken if she didn't know any better.

'Such a pretty little redhead'

'All natural too, apparently'

'A tad too young for my tastes but you're welcome to her, Creed'

'Scream for **ME**'

'Swear loyalty to Doom and this will end my little Willow tree'

'Obey the Master and serve him well. You will be rewarded if you do'

Again and again images as well as sounds of the past assaulted her mind, causing her to stumble a few times as they sapped her will bit by bit. She tried to block them out, to convince herself through and through that it was in the past, but every time she looked at one of the cells that lined the hall, she found it all to easy to remember her own. Sadly her confused state finally caught up with her causing her to trip over her own feet and she would have fallen face first to the floor had she not been caught by a pair of strong arms. Looking up, she saw that it had been Xander that had caught her and a look of supreme reassurance and confidence filled his eyes. It was as if he was promising right then and there that he would help her get through this, no matter what. For a few seconds she could see past the physical form before her, right to the soul within it, and she could see the love he felt for her. True, it was a sisterly love and it was probably more for the Willow of his world than for her, but at the same time it gave her a glimpse of how it could be one day. After all, after her trip into his mind she knew better than most that the day when he would be able to return to his own world was likely years away. Assuming, of course, he chose to leave once he obtained that ability. Years of interaction with people tended to form strong bonds and those bonds could not be so easily broken even with the promise of a way to return home. Maybe if one tie was made especially strong he'd choose to stay rather than return home as he planned. She smiled as her mind began to produce possibilities and scenarios with each successive one making it increasingly difficult to keep her face relatively impartial. Still she managed and, together with Xander and Buffy, she proceeded down the corridor lined with cell doors to where the young Thunderer's friend was most likely being kept.

The door to the main interrogation chambers were especially solid, both to make sure any escape attempt by an inmate was futile but also to ensure that certain re-education methods didn't wind up demolishing the rest of the building. It also had higher levels of security bound to it than the main entrance in order to complicate any rescue attempts by the rebels. Sadly it also meant that she would probably need a little help in getting the door open, since there were safeguards in place to make her techno-magic hacking impossible. The second those safeguards sensed any magic trying to hack the authorization codes to the room, adamantium rods would shoot out both vertically as well as horizontally within the door, sealing the room until a high security level code was entered. If they were going to break through, simpler and more basic methods would need to be employed and they would need to be done before any other counter measures could be employed.

"This last door's going to be a little tricky, Xander. I can't hack it and the door won't open the usual way without the right authorization code, so there's only one option left." She said moving herself into optimum position for what she had in mind.

"And that would be?" He asked with a small grin on his face, indicating that he had caught onto her plan like she knew he would.

"We knock on the door. **Really HARD!**" she replied as she drew on as much of her inner magic as she could for the brute force approach they were about to try.

With a feral smile of agreement, the young copy of Thor grabbed his hammer with both hands and then began to gather a potent electrical storm within it. Even though most of her focus was on attaining maximum output for her own attack, she could still sense the energy welling up within the hammer and was impressed at its potency. With the dampening field in place, she most she was able to achieve was about sixty percent of her usual maximum output but with him, it was flickering between eighty and eighty five percent. So either she had misjudged where his limits were or he was actually managing to overpower the field by quite a bit through sheer determination alone. This more than anything convinced her that she had made the right choice in choosing to rebel against the Thunder Guard and the Master. With this Xander at her side, they'd make it and she could leave the years of pain behind her in order to embrace the light that had so long been denied to her. It was with these feelings she nodded to Xander and, together, they sent the sum total of their powers at the door in front of them, hitting it with a force not unlike that unleashed by a vengeful god or goddess.

A thunderous boom reverberated throughout the air and the hallway shook violently in response to the attack delivered to the part of it that the door represented. For a moment the two of them were blinded but that soon went away and she looked at the door to see if the brute force approach had worked. An annoyed frown crept onto her face as she saw that the most their attacks had managed was to melt a portion of the door a bit but nothing else. This door was seriously starting to piss her off with its toughness to penetrate and while she tried to think up a plan B, she almost missed Buffy moving up to examine the door more closely. She supposed that this only made sense since an attack of that strength should have completely obliterated the door. The only reason it could still be standing as far as she was concerned was if someone had conducted some serious upgrades on it recently. That had to be it! There was no other explanation for the door to still be standing after an attack by a copy of Thor and a talented magic user like herself!

That opinion underwent revision when Buffy reached out to the door with one hand and gave it a slight push.

The door keeled over like its hinges had been removed and landed on the ground with energy force it implied much concerning its weight.

"Guess we did—" was about as far as Xander got into one of his quips before he saw something through the doorframe that froze him solid.

The counterpart to her friend didn't stay that way, however, and before she could ask him what was going on, he charged forward with a speed she had seen only once in Wanda's brother Pietro. Less than a second after the young thunderer entered, she could hear the sounds of battle and, with Buffy at her side, they ran forward to see what was going on and what had pissed Xander off.

It took them three seconds to figure it out and one second to decide to join in.

[The rest of what happened sadly cannot be described in words due to the graphic nature of the violence. It is so potent that even the most rabid psycho killers would go running for the storm drain to throw up at what happened to McCoy and Creed. Suffice it to say that both Interrogators had their chances of natural procreation reduced to zero, what little good looks they might have had were destroyed beyond repair and thanks to a spell from Willow both of them would grow nothing but pink hair or fur for the rest of their lives. Need I say more?

Willow looked around at the chaos and carnage she, Xander and Buffy had caused in the room with a smile on her face, feeling distinctly gleeful at what they had done. There was machinery was broken beyond repair, both McCoy as well as Creed were going to be in the hospital for a **LONG** time and now she could see her Xander's counterpart trying his best not to look at his friend Tarene. The reason for this wasn't necessarily shame at not being able to get to her in time to save her from the pain this room usually helped to produce. From what she could see, any damage that might have been done to the woman had healed up rather quickly, leaving completely unblemished skin. It wasn't because he was standing guard so that either she or Buffy could free Tarene because, while it was true that he probably didn't know how to release the restraints himself, there were no other threats in the room and he could easily break his friend free himself. No, the reason for him looking away from his companion was a lot simpler and completely at odds with what most people would think about a young man with his current appearance of a warrior hunk.

Apparently during their interrogation/torture of Tarene, Creed and McCoy thought it would be a good idea to deprive the woman of so much as a single stitch of clothing. So there she was, heavily restrained to an interrogation table, completely naked with all her most…desirable…features on prominent display for all to see or touch. Obviously the two monsters were trying to strip her of all sense of personal power or strength and the first step was taking away all the trappings of power, like distinctive clothing.

Apparently this Xander had either never seen a naked woman in person before or he didn't want Tarene to see what was in his eyes.

With a sigh of impatience, she walked over to him and yanked his cape off his back.

"Oh grow up! You've already seen her naked otherwise you wouldn't have turned around, so the damage is pretty much done." Willow said before magically releasing the restraints that were holding down Tarene, "Just look at it as empirical information gathering for that fantasy of yours involving you, her and a pot full of warm chocolate syrup."

Looking down at Thor Girl's body, she narrowed her eyes slightly and examined what she saw fairly thoroughly.

"Then again, from what I saw in your mind, your predictions weren't all that far off the mark." She said with a slightly amused smile on her face as she wrapped the cape around the naked woman.

"I-if you two are finished, I suggest w-we get out of here before your actions are noticed elsewhere," Tarene said after finally regaining sufficient strength to speak and move on her own. "Help me find where they put my hammer and we can be off."

"Right away, Tarene." Xander said, sounding somewhat glad at something to distract him from her previous comments.

_Definitely never had sex before. Perhaps a threesome will loosen him up a bit._ Willow thought before recalling her examination of Thor Girl's body, _Or maybe a foursome?_

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_**Three Miles From the Now Demolished Thunder Guard Facility, Three Hours Later**_

"Looks like we're in the clear," Xander said as his watch for pursuing forces from the Thunder Guard Facility or the surrounding area came up with nothing.

"Good. Then we should be able to meet up with the rebels in time to aide them with their assault," Tarene said, now garbed in her Thor Girl uniform with her enchanted mallet in her hand.

"That would not be a wise thing to do." Buffy stated from her position further down the sewer access point they had taken shelter in, "Medusa already managed to extract the details of the attack from Thorian's mind. Even if they don't have all the facts, they'd have enough to make sure the attack will fail. It'd be suicide to go, especially since we're either traitors or escaped prisoners as far as the rest of the Thunder Guard is concerned."

"Suicide? Possibly. Then again we might just manage to pull off a miracle if we go. After all, any plan to counter the attack of Captain America, the Avengers and the rebels would not contain our involvement. Our very presence there could be just the thing to turn the tables on ol' Rust Bucket," Xander said, knowing full well that while risky the attack on the Universal cube would be a success. "I won't force either you or Willow to go with us, but I'm going no matter what."

"As will I. Xander is my student, so his safety is my primary concern." Tarene said, making her decision on the matter known, "Also, Lord Thor spoke of his desire to see that cur Donar brought low and I would see it done if for no other reason than to extract retribution for sullying the name of Asgard."

"You don't **understand!**" Buffy yelled with anger, aggravation and a bit of fear, "Doom will have nothing but his best forces there, Thunder Guard and normal troops, and they will be ready for an assault! You think this is the first time that some super powered rebels have tried to attack him like this?! There have been dozens of tries since he succeeded in conquering the world and all of them have meant death to those who defied him!"

"Maybe so, but no empire lasts forever, Buffy. No matter how powerful the regime, history makes it pretty clear that nothing lasts forever," Xander said, knowing that it was the aura of invincibility that Doom presented to those under him that was holding the blonde Slayer back. "Besides which, the event is the final testing of the Universal Cube before Doom launches his invasion of my home. I **will** find a way to stop it or die trying!!"

With those words he began walking deeper into the network of tunnels beneath the city around them, using the information provided by Willow to navigate towards Central Park. He did not look back nor speak another word, deciding to let Buffy's actions declare her choice in the matter. He could already hear Tarene's strong steps, followed by Willow's more silent ones, so he knew that at least he would have two other team members to support him when the fighting started. He knew that the Avengers and Captain America's rebels would be attacking from three points: the sewers, the crowd and the forest behind the grand stage Doom had erected for the occasion. He also knew the likely sparring pairings between the good guys and the bad guys that would allow him to decide how as well as where this trio would intervene. The top priority of the mission, of course, would be to destroy the Universal Cube before the Crimson Curse could be pressured into dealing with it herself. He still had the black crystal sphere Amora had given him thanks to the fact that it had vanished with his Thorian personae after he had been separated from his hammer. The best strategy would probably to have Tarene and Willow take up guard positions around the Cube to intercept anyone who tried to prevent him from sucking Doom's creation into the sphere.

_I'll need to time it precisely when the Avengers and the rebels make their move in order to ensure that most of Doom's forces are tied up dealing with them. _He thought as he came to a fork in the road, _Even then, I'll probably have only five minutes to pull it off before the Thunder Guard charge my position or Doom interferes directly._

He hoped that would be enough.

Three and a half hours later the three of them were officially under Central Park and the sounds of the gathering above pierced ground to reach them. Looking back at Tarene and Willow, he took a moment to accept the fact that apparently Buffy really had chosen to make a run for it. He had hoped the entire time that she would have a change of heart at the last moment and catch up with the rest of them, but apparently that was not to be. While saddened by her absence, he could understand her decision to look out for her own well being rather than risk it trying to defy a man who held her world in the palm of his hand. While evil, Doom had done a thorough job in brainwashing the masses into believing him to be invincible, so it was no surprise that it still had a hold over the blonde Slayer. Personally he thought that the only reason this universe's Willow had come along was because she still wasn't in full possession of her marbles, even though she was definitely more stable mentally than when they had first met. As for Tarene, she had already made it clear that she considered it her duty to both keep him safe and to kick some Donar ass while she was at it. For him, it was a simple matter of protecting the reality he lived in and wanting to make sure things turned out different than they had in the comics. In the canon of A-Next, the Crimson Curse had used her powers to unmake the Universal Cube and take Victor Von Doom out in the process. He **refused** to let that happen this time around! Using the sphere provided by Amora the Enchantress, he would destroy the Cube himself before the Avenger chose to sacrifice her life to end it.

"Alright, here's the plan. As soon as the Avengers and the rebels make their move we'll pop out and make for the Universal Cube." He explained in a voice just above a whisper, "You and Willow will take up guard positions around the Cube and keep Doom's forces off of me until I'm done. If something happens to me, Tarene, it will be up to you to grab the sphere and finish the job."

The Designate nodded wordlessly, saying that she would indeed take up the task of destroying the Cube if he should fall, but he knew all too well that she would do everything in her power to make sure that it didn't come to that. Climbing up the ladder that would allow the trio to enter Central Park, he stopped just a little short of the top just to make sure that anyone topside wouldn't hear him. By his reckoning, the fighting should start in under an hour but that was assuming that he had the timetable right. Based on his recollection of A-Next canon, the final confrontation between the Thunder Guard and the Avengers happened between twenty-seven and thirty hours after the opening page of issue ten of A-Next. While Willow had not given him an exact estimate of how long it'd been since the fight in the rebel base, he guessed they had an hour or two to kill before the fight scene started.

However it was then that he began to hear chanting coming from above and the word being yelled by the crowd told him that his time had just run out.

"DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!" yelled the crowd above.

_WHAT!? We should still have an hour __**at LEAST**__ before he shows up!_ He thought as he tried to think of what he might have missed in his calculations, _If he's here then it means the fighting will begin any minute now! I __**SO**__ need to work on my __**MATH!**_

"Looks like things'll be getting interesting a lot sooner than I'd thought," he said, looking down to where Tarene and Willow stood. "Let's move!!"

With that he climbed up to the manhole cover and, with a mighty punch, sent it flying clearing the way for him to exit the sewer system and thus enter the park. From the looks of his surroundings, they had come out not far from the tech tent where the geeks operated the big ass television screen that Doom planned to use to address the crowd. Sadly this meant a fair number of cannon fodder troops were around it in order to make sure their master's message was not disrupted in any way. While it might have taken a few moments for the idiots to recognize him as an unknown rather than the leader of the Thunder Guard, they didn't hesitate to move in when they did. At that exact moment, though, the sounds of explosions and battle rolled through the air causing the grunts to go from 'detain and question' to simply 'kill them all'. Using his hammer to block the first volley of automatic gunfire, he used the built up momentum to his advantage by slamming the hammer into the ground, setting off one helluva localized earthquake. This sent spider web cracks shooting out from the point of impact, destabilizing the ground beneath the enemy soldiers causing them to fall to the ground. This bought both Tarene and Willow the time they needed to climb out and take up guard positions on either side of him. A telekinetic yank here and well placed lightning bolt to the equipment tent later, cleared the area of the remaining enforcers of Doom's will allowing them to begin approaching the Universal Cube.

Amidst the fleeing civilians and the forces of Doom already busy handling Captain America's forces, there was little to keep them from getting to the platform on which the device sat. Looking back once, Xander could already see Rogers fighting it out with Doom and American Dream trading blows with S.S Agent. The daughter of Sharon Carter still had her long hair and that meant that the sequence of events from the comic book weren't all that far along yet. Hopefully by the time that the others finished off their respective sparring partners, the Universal Cube would be little more than a memory. With a look to his two comrades they moved into the best strategic positions to intercept anyone trying to stop him leaving him to do what he came to do. Standing before the misbegotten creation of Doom's twisted mind, he withdrew the Orb of the Abyss from its pouch at his hip before holding it up to the Cube. Willing the talisman to activate, he pictured the Universal Cube in his mind and willed the Orb to suck it in completely.

The reaction was almost instantaneous as a mystical whirlpool spiraled out of the sphere and, with immense suction force, began to draw the sphere into it. At first all that entered was the light being generated by it but,, gradually he could see cracks begin to form on the surface of the construct in front of him. Concerned that it would take too long to draw in at its current rate, Xander threw the full force of his will and power into the Orb Amora had given him in order to increase its strength tenfold. While it did place a strain on him, the results were exactly like he had hoped as he watched chips of the substance the sphere was made of break off and fall into the vortex. At the rate the bits were being drawn in, he was willing to wager that all it would take would be three minutes before he could safely say 'mission accomplished'.

"Thorian! Look out!" Tarene yelled as something seriously solid nailed him in the back knocking him to his knees and almost onto his stomach.

It was only through sheer luck on his part that he managed to hold onto the Orb of the Abyss and keep its effects active but at a significantly reduced level. Turning his head slightly to see who it was that had struck him, he was discouraged to see Donar on the approach with his fake Mjolnir returning to his hand.

"Not good!" He managed to growl out since his team was distinctly unprepared to face off against an evil Thunder God.

"Thou shalt not interfere with the Master's plans, pretender, so long as Donar draws breath!" Donar declared as he prepared to attack again but much harder.

"A condition which I shall rectify anon, villain!" Tarene yelled before charging the leader of the Thunder Guard head on, "Thou art a disgrace to thy people and thy family! Prepare to pay the ultimate price for allying thyself with Doom!"

With a clash of hammers that sent shockwaves through the air, the two began to fight with Thor Girl making up for her insufficient strength in body with an abundance of potency in her words. While he knew she was skilled and powerful in her own right, Xander honestly didn't know if she had it in her to defeat the former prince of Asgard. While definitely ranking among Asgard's strongest warriors he didn't know if she was in the same league of Thor who many considered to be second only to Odin in power.

_I'll just have to have faith in her!_ He thought as he stood back up and resumed channeling the majority of his strength into the Orb to bring it back up to max effectiveness.

He knew, though, that if Donar knew of what he was doing, that it was a safe bet that the rest of Doom's forces as well as Doom himself knew as well. That being the case the three minutes he had originally set for destroying the Universal Cube would likely not be enough, especially if one of the bad guys managed to knock the Orb from his hand. His knowledge of magic might not have been the best, but he was fairly certain that it would be a bad thing if the drawing in of the Cube was cut off halfway. With this as an incentive he doubled his efforts to empower the Orb of the Abyss beyond what it was capable of on its own. So focused was he on his task that it would have been safe to say that the rest of the world might as well not existed as far as he was concerned. For him there was only himself, the Orb and the Cube with everything else not even entering into his mind at all. To the others who watched him work, power crackled across his body and merged with the Orb with such ferocity that all feared that nothing could stop him.

Sadly this was apparently enough for Doom to abandon his fight with Captain America and focus all his attention on him.

Joy.

Looking at the Universal Cube, Xander tried to estimate how much more time he'd need before the Orb consumed it completely. He was somewhat satisfied to see that it was mere moments away from it being reduced to half its original size but it still meant he needed more time. It was too bad he was pretty sure he wouldn't have that time 'cause he could already hear Doom's boot jets getting dangerously close. Looking around as best he could, Xander hoped that at least one of the Avengers would be close enough to lend him a hand. Unfortunately, the only one close enough was precisely the one that he wanted to keep as far away from the Cube as possible.

The Crimson Curse.

_Dammit! This can't be happening! _He growled mentally as the events depicted in A-Next canon seemed to be coming together despite his best efforts, _There are just too many threats and too few of us! Unless we get some surprise reinforcements and soon, this entire mission is going to go belly up!_

"An Orb of the Abyss? Then it would appear that despite the loss of your powers when separated from your hammer, you do have ties with Asgard." Doom said conversationally from his position hovering in the air, "However it will avail you not, for as this world's only true master sorcerer, I know all too well how to dispose of it."

Doom began to stretch out his hand, no doubt to deploy his method, when out of nowhere a smoldering piece of electronic equipment came flying through the air, forcing him to redirect his hand in order to blast it to pieces. Looking in the direction the machine came from, he saw Willow floating in mid-air with, two more pieces of wrecked equipment ready for launch. She had her resolve face on and her eyes were now pitch black, implying that not only was she using the full extent of her powers but also that she **was PISSED!**

"So the traitor seeks to challenge the Master? Do not presume to think that you are even worthy of fighting me **girl**!" Doom said dismissively as though the very idea of fighting the former Guardswoman was ludicrous, "You may have a firmer grasp of the arcane than others, but you are a mere amateur when compared me. Leave now and I might consider showing you some leniency and just order that you be put to a quick death."

"The only one who'll be dying around here Doom is **YOU**!" Willow yelled as she flung both pieces of machinery at her side at the ruler of this alternate world.

Predictably Doom had no trouble blasting both machines to pieces long before they reached him, but that didn't stop the Willow of this universe from continuing to toss everything she could find at the asshole. Even as each piece was blown out of the sky, Xander had to wonder why the Willow of this world kept using a tactic that was obviously useless. The answer hit him a moment later and he had to grin at the cleverness of the plan, but at the same time worry about how long it would continue to work before Doom caught on. The Black Witch, aka Medusa, knew that this tactic was flawed and probably didn't even believe that she could beat Doom in a straight out contest of magic, but that was not her goal. Her goal was only to distract the tin-plated prick long enough for him to accomplish the destruction of the Cube. As long as Doom was more concerned with destroying her projectiles than stopping the destruction of the Cube, then victory was assured.

_I just hope that ol' Victor doesn't catch onto this too soon!_ He thought as he refocused his efforts towards keeping the Orb of the Abyss at max suction.

"Do not think that I have forgotten you, boy." Doom said with some steel in his voice, "I am well aware of what the traitor is doing. I was merely curious about how long she could continue to assail me with thrown debris. Unfortunately it would appear to be not nearly as interesting as I'd thought it would be and so I shall end this pointless game."

Concerned at these words he turned from his task and watched as Doom ignored the two projectiles coming at him and unleashed a blast of energy directed squarely at Willow. It took all his considerable willpower to stay focused on his job instead of rushing to her aid and, thus, he had to watch as she brought the sturdier of the machines she was levitating up to intercept the blast. Unfortunately this only took the edge off of the blast since her machine shield exploded in her face, hitting her with shrapnel and sending her to the ground. For a moment he feared that she had been seriously hurt but when he saw her push herself up into a sitting position, he was gratified to see that the explosion had only rattled her head a little.

"Resourceful, isn't she? Talent like that would have taken her far in the Thunder Guard." Doom said with mock regret, "Alas it shall now take her nowhere save the **grave**."

Horrified, Xander watched as Doom raised both his arms and prepared to fire what was obviously a much stronger blast than was generally unleashed by his armor at Willow. The sight nearly tore him in two as he was being pulled in two directions at once by his responsibility to the mission and his desire to save a young woman with the face of his closest friend. He knew that if he stopped the Orb now, the Cube could very well explode or something, since more than half of it was gone, leaving nothing to contain the energy it possessed. That would probably destroy the entire city or at the least throw it out of phase with the rest of this reality for all eternity. However, if he stayed on task and destroyed the Cube, he would almost certainly be condemning this Willow to death and the very thought of seeing a dead Willow caused his heart to spasm in pain. He was well and truly caught between a rock and a hard place with either choice almost certainly guaranteed to cause him great pain.

As Doom unleashed his blast, time seemed to slow down and as the beam passed through the air between him and his target the teenager in Thor clothing made the hardest choice he would ever have to make.

He chose to continue with the destruction of the Cube rather than go to the aid of the counterpart of his best friend.

Fortunately Fate seemed inclined to reward him for this and, just as the deadly energy blast reached the five foot mark, the earth in front of his friend's counterpart exploded upwards, forming a barrier that took the blast instead. Looking for the source, he quickly found it in the form of the Crimson Curse whose hands were outstretched towards the barrier.

"Focus on destroying the Cube, Thorian! Your friend and I will hold Doom at bay!" Shouted the Crimson Curse as she ran to Willow's side.

"'You will keep me at bay'?" Doom asked with some annoyance, "You speak as though the two of you combined will be enough to fight me to a stalemate. Such arrogant presumption cannot go unpunished!"

With a potent thrust of his hands, Doom unleashed another blast of energy at the two sources of his 'irritation' and, in response, the Crimson Curse used her powers to once again erect a barrier. However Doom had learned from his previous attack and, before the blast could hit the barrier, he snapped his hands into fists, causing the energy blast to fragment and arc around the barrier to hit those that lay behind it. However by this time Willow had apparently recovered from the earlier explosion or at least that was what her inferred when he saw the energy beams strike an invisible barrier well short of their targets. Then, all of a sudden, the barrier of dirt was dropped and fell to the ground to show a determined Crimson Curse as well as a recovered and determined Black Witch.

"We do not presume anything, Doom! We will fight you to a stalemate to keep you away from Xander!" Willow said as she used her powers to lift herself into the sky with Curse following her.

_Heh! That's my Willow!_ Xander thought, turning back to the task in front of him, fully confident that the two ladies would be able to keep Doom off his back.

This confidence was reflected in the power of the Orb of the Abyss as it seemed to gain strength of purpose that it had not possessed prior to that moment. With this strength, the remainder of the Universal Cube was drawn into the Orb in under a minute and, with a flash of light, the creation of a tyrant was sealed within for all time.

"Mission accomplished." He whispered mimicking one of his favorite Anime characters.

Tucking the sphere back into the pouch at his belt, he drew his hammer from his belt and turned to join his friends and comrades in finishing Doom off for good. After all, if Doom could create two Universal Cubes, then he could create a third and that meant he had to be defeated in a more permanent manner than most superheroes would condone. Looking about, Xander saw that the battle of Doom versus the Crimson Curse and Black Witch had moved a little ways away from him and, if the booms in the air were any hint, Tarene was still trading blows with Donar as fiercely as ever. The Avengers seemed to be wrapping up their individual fights at the moment and that meant they'd be heading over here to regroup and most likely withdraw from the area. They might have managed to foil Doom's scheme for now, but he still had an entire world behind him and there was no way that the rebels, the Avengers and his group could defeat all of that.

_Better get rid of Doom and quickly! _He thought as he chose to employ a skill he had just recently begun to gain a feel for.

When he had flown two and a half weeks ago in order to intercept both Nova and Darkdevil so they wouldn't interfere with May's attempt to stop the Moose VS Yama fight, he had thought that it was the hammer that was flying and he was just along for the ride. That method was what he assumed Thor used all the time whenever he was shown to be in the air but, apparently, there was a second method that allowed him to fly because of the Asgardian magic flowing through his veins. It wasn't quite as corny as thinking happy thoughts, but it did require knowing how to direct the power within him to the proper areas in order to navigate the field of arcane energy that naturally enshrouded the Earth. In a way, it wasn't all that different from his own personal theory as to how Magneto flew by using his mutant powers in combination with the planet's electro-magnetic field. He had actually managed to use that concept to float and even move around in the air a bit in Asgard, but it had never been all that fast or that high off the ground. He hoped that the only difference between a slow float and flying heroically through the air was just a potent application of willpower as well as an increase in his own arcane energy output.

Otherwise he was going to look pretty foolish in a few moments.

Taking a deep breath to blow away the last bits of doubt, he leapt into the air and, with the same focus he had used to boost the Orb's power, he drew on the power within him to keep himself aloft. Picturing a fighter aircraft with vertical take-off engines, he imagined those engines on himself with the power in his veins flying out of them. There was a brief period of instability for a second there, but he quickly righted himself and, with a sound theory proven right, he directed his body towards the still airborne Doom. He could see that the Crimson Curse and the Black Witch were using the old bait and switch routine to keep the tin-plated prick occupied, but now that the Cube was gone there was no longer any need to be satisfied with just a stalemate. Therefore, with determination in his eyes and a single goal in his heart, he threw his hammer at the dictator's exposed back, hoping to send him back to terra firma. He also yelled 'oh yeah' when his hammer hit the mark but his feeling of elation was somewhat tempered by the fact that while the blow had done some damage, Doom's armor was tougher than it looked.

"Your plan is at an end, foul tyrant! Thine Universal Cube is no more and with it your ambitions of conquering all known realities!" Xander declared, shifting back into Thor-speak in order to keep the Crimson Curse in the dark about who lay beneath the Thorian personae, "Now all that be left is to end you as well and total victory will be assured."

"An ambitious plan, young Thunderer. Let's see if you're up to it!" Doom said and, with a violent thrust, a beam of destructive energy was unleashed.

With a horizontal swing he batted the blast away from himself with his hammer and flew straight for Doom, intending to make a quick end of things by destroying the weapons on Doom's armor. However if the increase in energy blasts heading his way was any indication, ol' Victor was firmly against the idea. Rolling from left to right while keeping his body as compact as possible, he advanced with some of the energy blasts missing him by inches when he dodged them. He was just about to enter green boy's personal space when he noticed Vic's face go from annoyed determination to smug satisfaction.

That was never a good sign as far as he was concerned.

His suspicions were proven correct when all of a sudden a barrier of energy sprang up around him, stopping him cold and smushing his face a little in the process. Once he got his bearings, Xander examined the energy field surrounding him and wondered what was so special about it that it would make Doom think he had already won.

_Well nothing like the direct approach!_ He thought as he brought his hammer back and then slammed it down on the barrier in an effort to break it.

The vibrations that went up and down his arms as a result of the blow however convinced him **NOT** to try that again unless absolutely necessary.

"I suppose you're wondering why the barrier didn't break when you struck it." Doom said apparently forgetting all about destroying the normal way and instead deciding to talk him to death, "It is a little something I devised to deal with those annoying Asgardians when they tried to take Donar from my service. Essentially it cuts them off from the source of their abilities: Asgard. It took a few tries but I discovered that while each citizen of Asgard does have their own independent internal source of power, it is significantly less then what they possess when connected to their homeland by magic. It took me months to locate the connection and even longer to develop a way to block it, but in the end I was successful.

"Stripped of their strength, they were absurdly easy to kill. One bullet to the head was all it took to end their interfering lives. After twenty of them died by my hand, that old man Odin finally got the message that his son worked for me and no one else." Doom said with a serious swelled head, "There hasn't been a single Asgardian on Earth since then. I imagine they're sitting back and waiting for me to be defeated before they try and visit this realm again. A foolish idea, for I will never die and my empire will never fall and that is that."

The part of him that was Thor was outraged that twenty Asgardians had died at this man's hands and the part of him that was Xander just wanted to shut the blowhard up as soon as possible. After all, if you let one of these windbags gain momentum, it was only a matter of time before they start thinking that they're important or something. Since physical attacks were pretty much useless, Xander decided to see if energy-based ones would be more effective. Pointing his hammer at the barrier, he unleashed a blast that was slightly stronger than he figured would be necessary to shatter concrete. While this attack proved to be easier on his hands, it only caused a ripple in the field such as a pebble might cause in a lake.

_Alright! Let's see how it stands up against a blast at full strength! _He thought as he unleashed yet another blast but this time putting all his power behind it.

This time there was definitely an improvement as far as reactions went, since instead of a barely perceivable ripple waves were produced in the field that went from ground zero to the opposite side and back again. The field didn't break, though, and that caused him to take a moment to rethink his strategy and come up with something a little more intricate than 'keep hitting it until it falls down'.

"Oh please! Don't stop trying. The more you try and batter down the barrier, the quicker you'll deplete what energy remains in your body. That's how it went with the other Asgardians." Doom said arrogantly from his position in the air, "Those fools just tried as hard as they could, again and again, to break through the barrier with sheer brute force! The fools! Perhaps once I've reconstructed my Universal Cube, I'll pay a visit to Asgard and conquer it first!"

Despite the way the Thunderer side of him wanted to yell back in defiance, Xander remained silent and tried to recall everything he had ever heard about force fields like this. Granted his source, sci-fi movies and comics, were hardly the most reputable sources, but they did think of outside the box solutions and that was what he needed at the moment. The first think he recalled was that most barriers like this absorbed the force behind a blow and distributed the energy throughout the entire field thus decreasing the strain on any one part. While another possibility was that it took energy from each attempt to break it in order to reinforce its own strength he for some reason didn't think it was the case this time. So if he went with his first theory then the only way to break out of the barrier sphere was to exert tremendous force on it from all sides at once. By doing this he would increase the strain on it immensely by not giving it a chance to distribute the force of his attack at all. He would also likely have to keep the assault up for at least ten seconds just to be sure that he forced it to overload.

Reaching within himself, he pictured a crystal ball and then he pictured a single concentration of electricity that looked like an electric blue speck of dust. The speck of dust symbolized the energy he was gathering within himself and, as one would expect, the little mote of energy grew quickly as more of the same was drawn to one spot. Soon the energy gathered seemed so great that it would burst through the sphere that contained it but he willed the ball to remain intact. Brighter and brighter did the light from the swarming energy grow, as though a visible manifestation of its desire to expand and be free from its prison.

Yet still he did not allow it to break through its crystal confines.

To the outside observer, it looked as though he was merely glaring at Doom in anger but in fact he barely even registered that the man was there. All his effort was focused on gathering energy and condensing it into a single spot within his body. More and more power he gathered within himself until he felt as though he'd blow himself up if he didn't release it soon. Nevertheless, he strained to hold it in just a little longer, since he knew he'd only get one shot at this. It wasn't until he was peripherally aware of little bolts of electricity dancing across his body that he decided that the time to act had come. If he waited any longer, Doom might suspect something from the outward sign of his gathering of his power and do something drastic. There was also the possibility that the Crimson Curse and Willow might choose to intervene forcing Victor to place his attention back on them.

With a yell of defiance and of strength, Xander unleashed the energy he had gathered and condensed within him assaulting the barrier in all directions. This move was all him, though, because while Thor might have been capable of channeling the power through his hammer, he had never heard of the Thunderer trying an omni-directional blast. For that is what he did, he unleashed his power in all directions through his own body rather than the hammer, and still he bombarded the barrier in order to meet his ten second objective. It was only when he finally sensed that there was nothing trying to contain the energy he was forcing out of his body that he ceased his assault. Once his eyesight returned, the eyesight that he had been deprived of due to his energy discharge, he was two steps from yelling 'yahhooo' in triumph. He had shattered Doom's energy sphere, the one that had allowed him to slay so many citizens of Asgard, and the look on the dictator's face was priceless. It was a look of complete incomprehension making it clear he wasn't going to be accepting what he had just seen anytime soon and that meant that a once in a lifetime opportunity had just been dropped in his lap.

_His guard is down! This is the chance I need to finally end this fight once and for all! _He thought and, with what little condensed energy still remained in him, he channeled it to his hammer and fired it at Doom.

In the blink of an eye the area in the path of his blast became saturated with destructive energy and Victor was completely enveloped by that energy. He couldn't see whether or not the assault was having any effect on the tyrant and he was too far away to 'feel' if there was any resistance to the attack, so he kept it up as long as he could. It was only when he was getting moderately fatigued that he stopped in order to take a breather from the two massive uses of power he'd employed in less than a minute. He supposed he only had Tarene's training to thank for the increased stamina and power but it looked like he was getting close to his limits.

Looking down at the path his attack had taken, he saw that his blast had indeed taken Doom down a few pegs but, if the groaning was any indication, the prick was still alive. Lowering himself to the ground, Xander saw that the action around him had come to a screeching halt with just about everyone gaping at him in disbelief. Understandable, considering he'd escaped from an energy prison developed by Dr. Doom that had already brought about the deaths of twenty Asgardians. Add to that the way he'd just completely floored their supposedly invulnerable leader and he supposed that the next few seconds would decide how things went from here. Walking over to Doom, he could see that several sections of the man's armor had been melted and while it looked like the asshole had been coherent enough to shield his face with his arms, it was still seriously burned. In fact, now that he thought about it, Victor now looked a lot more like he had been depicted in the comic books without his mask on. Nevertheless, Xander still had to deliver the deciding blow otherwise Doom would just pull himself together in a few months and everything would start again. Once he stood at the man's side, he raised his hammer above his head and prepared himself to cave the man's skull in but, before he could begin the downward swing, someone stopped him.

Turning around to see who had prevented his hammer arm from coming down on the dictator's head he was only slightly surprised to see that it was Captain America.

"That's enough, Thorian," said the main in red, white and blue.

"Nay, good Captain. It is not enough just yet. Ye know as well as I that if he be allowed to live he wilst simply create another Universal Cube." He said in opposition to the man's statement, "The only way to end this threat anon is to send this villain straight to Hel herself."

"His threat is already ended, Thorian. You've succeeded in shattering the image of invulnerability that caused all who followed him to cast away any ideas of challenging him. Thanks to the video cameras arrayed throughout the area, his defeat has been televised for all to see all across the world." The Captain said, using his arm to show all the cameras that were apparently still operational and directed at him, "With his mortality and fallibility exposed, it won't be long before his subordinates begin to fight amongst themselves for control over his empire. I imagine that there'll be quite a few attempts on his life as well. So don't dirty your hands by taking his life because his own followers will do that soon enough."

Taking a moment to consider the legend of World War two's words, Xander had to admit that there was a certain truth to what the man said. Dictators like Doom relied greatly on both greed and fear in order to keep their regime in power, as well as the people under control. The citizens of the world feared him and those given power by him. His subordinates all followed him because of some promise of power he gave them and to a certain degree he kept those promises. However those who gain power from a dictator all too often come to desire more power sooner or later. It was a drug to them and Victor Von Doom was the dealer giving them just enough to keep them compliant but not enough to challenge him. As for the people, they were kept pinned down by their fear of Doom's regime but, at the same time, were tempted by the promise that if they obeyed his rule unflinchingly that they might be able to raise the quality of their lives a bit. However the one thing the armor clad dictator needed in order to maintain his position of dominance was to convince everyone below him that he was unbeatable. If there was so much as one blind spot or one weak point exposed for all to see, there would be those who would take advantage of it in an instant. By shattering Doom's barrier sphere and doing such serious damage to the man, he had made it clear to all that their Master was just as mortal as they were.

Doom could be beaten.

Doom could be **killed**.

That knowledge alone would bring about a power struggle within Doom's regime that would tear it apart from the inside out. Even if it didn't completely collapse, the resistance would be able to take advantage of the infighting and eventually grow strong enough to topple the evil empire completely.

_Like always, Cap's right._ He thought before lowering his hammer and tucking it beneath his belt.

"Very well. Nevertheless, t'would be best if we didst make our escape anon." He said as he turned to face the leader of this world's resistance, "'tis doubtful that the enemy will continue to ignore use for much longer."

A nod from the shield-wielding man was all he got before the two of them began to move where the others were regrouping. If all went as it did in canon, Richards and Zemo would soon turn on each other, giving all the good guys a chance to slip away in the commotion.

_While things didn't exactly happen the way that I'd planned, looks like I can put a check mark in the win column for this one._ He thought as he spotted Tarene in the group of Avengers, looking like she'd gone twenty rounds with a pissed off Odin.

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_**Five Minutes Later, The Perspective of Victor Von Doom**_

Pain.

Unbridled and unrestrained pain.

That was what he was feeling at the moment and only the partially functioning emergency medical components of his armor were keeping him from passing out from it. Them and his growing hatred of the Avenger known as Thorian. All on his own, the brat of a warrior had obliterated the iron grip he had established over his world and set back his conquest of all realities as well. It had taken the economic resources of the entire planet to construct a second cube after the first team of Avengers had come through years ago and succeeded in destroying the prototype. He had been forced to concede many of his more valuable assets to his 'allies' in order to gain their cooperation in the effort, but he'd believed at the time that it would all be worth it after the first reality had been taken. Now, though, not only was his image in danger of being destroyed but it would take years for him to recover from the events of this night.

_But I will get it all back! Doom __**will**__ succeed! Doom __**will**__ endure! _He thought with angry determination as he began to work past the pain in order to move his right arm.

What he sought was kept in one of the secret compartments in his armor and, therefore, one of the most durable ones since it would need to be in order to keep its contents a secret. Inside the compartment was a device that would activate his own personal transporter system, which would spirit him away to his inner sanctum where he could recover from this defeat. Inch by inch he moved his hand and just as he had just about reached the compartment, a shadow fell over him, attracting his attention. Turning to see who, it was he was surprised to see a young woman that was both familiar and yet not familiar at the same time. It took a few seconds for him to work through his pain-fogged brain to attach an identity to the black clad woman but, eventually, he recalled who she was. She was Elektra's disciple, Elizabeth Anne Summers, and had been a part of the strike force that had destroyed the primary rebel base in the city. But she was different from how she had appeared in the picture he had seen of her. Her face was unmarred by even the slightest of scars and her more potent attributes had been enhanced somehow to make her beauty rival any woman he had seen before. However it was what lay gripped tightly in her hand that held his attention the most.

A single sai was in her hand and gripped so tightly that the woman's knuckles were turning white.

Looking at her face, he could see the hatred in her eyes, the desire to kill him, and yet he was unafraid of her. If it was her intention to kill him, he'd be dead. Instead she was just standing there looking at him as if trying to burn him alive with her hatred. Such was the weakness of all women. While they did have their uses from time to time few had the strength of will to take the life of a wounded foe.

She would not harm him.

That was the last thing Victor Von Doom, former ruler of an entire planet Earth, thought before a three pronged dagger came down on him right between the eyes and out the back of his head.

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_**The Secondary Rebel Base in the City, One Hour Later**_

The return to the rebel base went smoothly since the bad guys divided themselves into factions and began to fight amongst themselves. Captain America believed that the end result would be that more and more people would choose to side with rebels thanks to this and that would make reclaiming the world that much easier. Sadly, instead of returning to the MC2 universe as American Dream no doubt hoped, Rogers chose to stay behind, claiming that he still had work to do. Considering that he was the person that all the liberty-loving rebels gathered around, he probably wouldn't be free to return until the last of the countries of the world knew true freedom from Doom's regime.

_At least she got that cool shield out of the deal._ He thought as he looked at how the blonde held the shield belonging to Doom Earth's Captain America.

While he didn't understand how Mainframe somehow got himself blown up even though he never tapped into the power grid in order to KO Donar. Still, it was probably for the best since his module would be their ace in the hole when the Revengers ambushed them on the other side of the jump gate.

As for the Crimson Curse, he had the pleasure of a heartfelt thank you from her and being saved the sight of American Dream's team mourning the loss of their comrade. She was alive, well and would remain on the Avengers roster for a long time to come.

From there everything went pretty much according to canon with Thunderstrike choosing to stay behind in order to get to know Doom Earth's Eric Masterson better. Naturally neither Stinger nor American Dream were all that happy about that, since if these versions were anything like canon, they both had their eyes on him. Still, like the truly honorable warriors they were, they supported his decision on the condition that he stay in touch.

Knowing that time was slowly slipping away, he edged over to Tarene to ask her what she did with Donar, aka this world's Thor. The look on her face was one that said it all and was only further confirmed when she simply said 'I sent him to Odin for judgment'. He was about to inquire further when a commotion coming from one of the rear entrances to the rebel base caught his attention. He, like every other skilled warrior in the room, turned towards it and no one was more shocked than he to see Buffy waltzing towards him. She didn't even seem to care that just about every non-superhuman person in the base had an automatic weapon at her. Whether it was because she had a death wish or simply because she was fully confident that she could deal with them if it came down to a firefight, he didn't know. She stopped just before she would have entered close combat range and simply stood there looking at him, waiting, no doubt expecting a common question to spring from his lips.

"What, pray tell, has brought thee here, Buffy?" Xander asked, not quite wanting to give up his Thor speak just yet.

"Well the way I see it, Hammerhead, since you're the reason me and Red over there ditched the Thunder Guard, that means that it's your responsibility to show us this better way to live and all that stuff." Buffy replied as though her logic was utterly flawless, "So we're coming with you to that other world and that's all there is to it."

"WHAT!?" He exclaimed completely losing his Norse God manner of speech thanks to his shock.

"You heard me. I know Red and I originally planned on hooking up with these rebels when we agreed to walk away from the Guard, but I don't think that's gonna happen." Buffy replied as though he has been seriously asking a question rather than just focusing his shock, "It's pretty obvious that aside from shield boy over there, no one in the rebel organization is going to trust us anytime soon and that's something they don't need right now. Add that to the fact that me an' Willow were just junior members of the Guard, I doubt there's any useful information we could provide that these people don't already have. So leaving with you seems like the best choice for us right now."

Looking back and forth between the various Avengers as well as Captain America, he waited for one of them to voice either an objection or persuade the duo to stay on Doom Earth. From the looks on their faces, though, they clearly believed this to be his decision and his decision alone. Turning to Tarene, he hoped that at least she would point out the fact that there wasn't enough room in their apartment for two more people or that she didn't want to have to babysit the two of them while he was off at Midtown High School. But she, like the others, was plainly conveying that it was his choice and that she would support whatever choice he made as best she could.

Now he could try and fight this and use his usual straw grabbing brand of logic to come up with an argument why they had to stay but he doubted it'd work. After all, if the Marvel Universe and the MC2 universe, by proxy, could handle daughters from alternate timelines and visits from parallel dimensions without any trouble, Buffy and Willow moving there wouldn't cause even the teensiest problem.

_Assuming, of course, that the Buffy and Willow of the MC2 universe don't see these two on TV or something anytime soon!_ He thought as he briefly imagined the kind of havoc that would cause, _That kind of headache I __**DON'T**__ need!_

In the end there was only one choice he could make and he **seriously** hoped he didn't come to regret it down the line.

"Very well. Thou canst accompany us back to our realm." He said with just enough feeling in his words to be polite without being overly enthusiastic about it.

"Don't worry, Xander! I promise we'll be good. Very **good!**" Willow said in a tone that made him begin to regret his choice already and cause some of the lady members of the Avengers to giggle in amusement, "In fact, I'm kinda interested in trying out the ice cream truck dream of yours. I'm sure that we could find a volunteer somewhere to fill the final spot. What do you think, hmmm?"

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End file.
